The Yogi Foundation, Enchantment, and The Search for Magic

In the early 20^th century, sociologist Max Weber announced “the disenchantment of the world,” a moment when Enlightenment-era rationality, and the burgeoning scientific age, either had solved or would solve all the world’s mysteries.

While the ongoing age of scientific inquiry has undoubtedly produced many of humanity’s greatest accomplishments and solved a great many of our most pressing challenges, there was nevertheless a cost. When everything is explainable, our sense of wonder, and the mystery and magic that once colored everyday life, vanishes. Especially in a contemporary moment defined by chaos and crisis, it’s easier than ever to feel disenchanted about the world and its contents.

And yet, recent scholarship has made the case that enchantment is still alive and well –if one knows where to look for it. Academic and critic Rita Felski argued that literature can enchant us still, pointing to the complete, quiet focus that typifies being lost in a good book as a readily available state of enchantment. Philosopher Jane Bennett’s 2001 book The Enchantment of Modern Life details myriad ways in which we are still living in enchanted times. She memorably claims that loving the world is a necessary precursor for meaningful engagement with it, with enchantment an essential piece of that relationship. One gets the impression, in the end, that a measure of enchantment is foundational to the human existence – even necessary for a meaningful life.

The Yogi Foundation (TYF) is proud to support Emmy-award winning film director Gilly Barnes in a project that continues this important conversation. The Search for Magic is a documentary following a renowned magician who, desperate to reconnect with the magic that once inspired him, embarks on a journey to rediscover his sense of wonder.

Selected for inclusion from a pool of over 1200 applicants by Oscar-lauded directors including Greta Gerwig and Chloe Zhao, the film offers a glimpse of the courage and imagination it takes to find a path forward in dark times – an essential message for our contemporary moment. Alongside Proof of Concept, an accelerator program for gender-marginalized filmmakers, TYF is proud to support there-imagining of wellness, wonder, and possibility through this piece of art.

We thank our co-sponsors, The Netflix Fund for Creative Equity and The Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, for helping to bring this project to life. The film typifies TYF’s commitment to inspiring our collective sense of possibility through expressive endeavors. Guided by our conviction that wonder is part of wellbeing, we hope this project will inspire audiences to reframe their understanding of enchantment, magic, and creativity.

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