Moonwatcher: A Personal Odyssey

The 81-minutes documentary Moonwatcher: A Personal Odyssey describes the transformative life story of Dan Richter and the impact he and his peers had on generations to come. He worked with the most creative and influential minds of his time such as Stanley Kubrick, John Lennon, Yoko Ono and Allen Ginsberg. Stanley Kubrick gave him the job of choreographer for the opening scene of 2001: A Space Odyssey, which catapulted him into respectable fame in the international art scene in the late 60s. Together with each of his collaborators, their actions were not just about art, but mainly about the transformation of society and self. They passionately set out to break all chains of the old and move into uncharted territory of the philosophical unknown. The most striking example was the transformation of John Lennon from the most famous rock star into a serious peace activist thanks to his lover Yoko Ono, who surrounded herself with old friends like Dan Richter, his wife Jill and the Avant-garde and intellectual elite of New York and London to facilitate the cause. The film features their efforts through intimate interviews and a variety of materials and relevant documents. But the movement was endangered and ultimately stopped by the dark forces of their souls. As the hippie movement began as a feast of love and peace, Dan and his peers moved deeper and deeper into the radical drug underground and political divide. The film describes his personal alienation from everything, pivoting in a desolate decade living in the infamous Chelsea Hotel in New York City and his constant search for a meaning in life. Many of his companions are dead, and a whole Hippie generation is shattered. But he overcame his addiction through connecting to nature, cultivating new passions like teaching rock- climbing and opting for the road to recovery and conciliation with friends and family.