Private Project

Sex to Spirit

Loveable cockney geezer Bob used to work as a stockbroker in London – a life of big deals and big money, drink and drug addiction, rampant consumerism and as much sex as he could get. He was ‘living the dream’ but came to realize it was actually his own personal nightmare – working a job he never liked, trapped by the need to maintain his lavish lifestyle – searching for something ‘to fill the hole inside’ when nothing ever truly did.

After 25 years of work, Bob travels to Asia on a quest to find a deeper and more lasting happiness. Visiting Thailand he discovers the world of Tantra – a path where sex and spirituality meet.

He joins workshops and one-to-one sessions, and as he goes deeper on his journey we come to learn about his past – his Roman Catholic childhood, his repressive home life, and his decision years later to become a porn filmmaker in his spare time, which lead him to meet and marry a porn star.

Using Tantric methods he purifies his relationship to his sex life, love life, and his spiritual life, healing his childhood trauma, and finding forgiveness for his ex-wife and himself.

He travels onwards to the birthplace of Tantra, India, to discover what remains of this tradition today. There he meets teachers and visits ancient temples, and is challenged to question everything he has been brought up to believe. Through this he is lead on a transformational adventure that might just change his life forever.

  • Scott Sansom
    Director
    Tibet Meditation
  • Scott Sansom
    Producer
    Tibet Meditation
  • Shashi Solluna
    Producer
    Tantra - Discover the path from Sex to Spirit (book, published by Hay House)
  • Bob McKenna
    Key Cast
  • Margot Anand
    Key Cast
    The Art of Sexual Ecstasy (Million copy best-selling book)
  • Mantak Chia
    Key Cast
    Multi-orgasmic man / woman / couple (best-selling books)
  • Shashi Solluna
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 25 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    February 28, 2018
  • Production Budget:
    190,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    India, Indonesia, Thailand, United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Super 35 mm HD
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Scott Sansom

Kiya Shanti (AKA Scott Sansom)
Film & Facilitator Bio

Kiya has been a professional filmmaker for over fifteen years, starting in corporate video and then moving on to broadcast news and travel docs (working professionally as Scott Sansom until recently). He has been making the feature-length documentary ‘Sex to Spirit’, looking at Tantra for the last 6 years.

Film

Kiya is a writer, director, producer, and editor of documentary and fiction projects. He began with a film degree at one of the top film schools in England (The Surrey Institute).

He moved into full-time broadcast work in 2004, when he established his production company Synergy Films, making documentaries for Al-jazeera International (the English language world news channel). Since then he has produced a variety of broadcast projects – predominantly international current affairs, news, and travel documentaries.

Spirituality

Kiya’s exploration of spirituality started with meeting his first spiritual teacher at the age of 15. He went on to explore Buddhism, Sufi Dancing, 5 rhythms dance, Thai Yoga Massage, Reiki, Firewalking, Meditation, Yoga, and Chi Kung.

He is a certified Ecstatic Dance facilitator and he has been offering this to the public for ten years. He is also trained in Rebirthing Breathwork, and Tantra.

Career Overview

Digital Planet Media (2001 – 2004)
Managing Director, Film Director, Producer, Cameraman, Editor

First production company, focused on promotional films for corporate clients, working closely with former BBC employees, based in Central London. His role included overseeing and directing the company, as well as directing, producing, shooting and editing the projects that came in.

Synergy Films (2004 – 2008)
Managing Director, Director, Producer, Cameraman, Editor

Kiya’s second company focused on the broadcast sector, particularly international current affairs, news and travel, and produced a string of broadcast films for Al-jazeera International, looking at subjects such as Turkey and the EU, Terrorism in Magreb, Tunisian Human Rights, and the political climate of Chinese ruled Tibet. Typically films were 10 – 21 mins. Again combining his roles as Director, producer, cameraman and editor, he also oversaw and managed the film’s budgets.

Road to Peace (Summer 2008)
Location Director/Cameraman

This full-length documentary charts the Dalai Lama’s 2008 visit to the UK. Drawing on his extensive knowledge of Tibet and Buddhism, he worked as co-director and camera op for the film whilst out on location.

Sacred Earth Media (2008 – present day)
Managing Director, Film Director, Producer, Cameraman, Editor

Sacred Earth Media is dedicated to creating films and books about mind body and spirit. The companies’ first film was ‘Tibet Meditation’.

Tibet Meditation (2008 – 2010)
Film Director/Producer/Editor
65 min feature-length documentary. A filmic, meditational journey through the landscape and culture of contemporary Tibet, designed to create a meditative state of mind in the viewer. With 50 mins of DVD extras (3 short films).

Sex to Spirit (2017)
Feature-length doc following a lovable ex-stockbroker Bob, as he travels to Asia in search of a deeper meaning to life. Deciding to look deeper into Tantra, the film follows his transformation through this spiritual path, filmed in Thailand, India, Bali and England.

Tantra Lovers (2017)
This 90-minute spin-off doc, is a talking-heads informative exploration into Tantra. It looks into what Tantra can offer to people who are interested to explore the path of conscious relationship.

Qualifications and Training

BA (Hons) Film and Video – 2.1. (Graduated 2000)
Certified Facilitator of Ecstatic Trance Dance, trained by Amoda (2007)
Certified Facilitator in Breathwork/Rebirthing (2010 – 2015)
Certified Tantra Facilitator (2015-2017)

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Sex to Spirit is a feature documentary exploring the rich world of Tantra. It has been a labor of love that has been six years in the making. When I began this project I wanted to learn more about Tantra personally, and also share it with others through creating a feature doc on the subject. There are hardly any films that explore tantra - we wanted to be the first to cover this subject in a new way, for a contemporary audience.

Over the last 6 years I've immersed myself fully into Tantra, living it, practicing it, and learning deeply from it. Working closely with up and coming Hay House author Shashi Solluna, a Tantrika and spiritual teacher, together we co-produced 'Sex to Spirit'.

To me, Tantra is a deep embodiment and healing process. Yes, there can be amazing sex, but it is much more than that! We wanted to show the richness and depth of this path, which many people write off as just being a bunch of people having an orgy.

The irony of it all, is that almost everyone in the world can gain a lot from exploring Tantra (and no, sorry, its not about orgies!). It’s not even just about improving your sex life, it’s about bringing awareness and healing to our childhood wounds, shaking up our social conditioning, and it presents you with a wide range of practices and techniques that can carry you into expanded states of consciousness – either alone or with other people.

Tantra to me is a path of experience, and one that is not just about meditating on your own into enlightenment (although this could be your path into Tantra). For me, it’s about going on a profound spiritual journey with other people – friends, lovers, husbands or wives, and indeed as tantric community.

Ultimately, it’s about connecting everyone to their hearts, and revolutionizing the way they relate to all of life. My deepest hope is that people will see this movie and open their minds to what Tantra is really about. I hope as a result, there will be a new wave of people checking out Tantra and learning from its rich well of knowledge – and most crucially experiencing it – through a course, a training, a 1 2 1 session, a book or online course.

Tantra is not just about Sting having 8-hour sex sessions! It’s for all of us, and it’s high time we all found a way to unite or reconnect our sexual energy with our spiritual path. Why? Because it can superpower our lives in ways that few other spiritual paths can. It enables us to embrace all aspects of being human: from sex, through love and into spirit, and integrate all of this into a life that is deeply and passionately lived.

Am I passionate about this subject? TOTALLY! And I hope you will be to!