“The Village of Lovers,” a film about community

||| FROM NIK SCHULZ |||

“The Village of Lovers,” a film which, as part of its global premiere, is available to stream until tomorrow night, tells the story of Tamera, an intentional community in southern Portugal which works to hold love, connection, and trust at the center of its relationships. Tamera’s roots started in southern Germany in the late 1970s, making it one of the longest lived, most successful, intentional communities to date. The film explores how the community’s members have managed to thrive by working through the kinds of conflicts that challenge and bedevil many other experiments in intentional living. This they do with the help of an experience of community-emotional processing they created called “Forum.” 

The film chronicles how, within a week of beginning their experiment in community living and open relating, they were beset with conflicts and jealousies. They quickly realized that they would not be able to create any lasting change without a sustainable social framework and a way to address internal conflicts. The core question of their project became “how can people live together, long-term, in trust?”.

Forum, a group process in which community members sit in circle to witness, as one person at a time walks in front of all to share something that feels alive for them emotionally, and then receives mirroring from the community, if desired, became one of the key answers to that question. The intention of Forum is to foster connection in the community by making that which is hidden, transparent, and by creating a space in which conflict can be shared and processed. 

The film also documents how, in this container of love, trust, and open relating, relationships work, families form, babies are welcomed, and ritual and celebration accompany all the milestones of life. 

Some early feedback on the film: 

“This film moved my heart and soul. So well done, sharing a new way of being, relating, and living. I am so inspired to spread the word about this amazing documentary about one of the most successful intentional communities in the world” – Katerina

“There is so much relief in my body in seeing and witnessing what Tamera has created, and simultaneously there is immense grief and longing for more folks who are willing to maturely and devotedly step into the alchemical fires of relationship at this level, in order to serve this greater collective vision” – Elisa

As mentioned, the film is available for streaming, by donation, until midnight tomorrow (Sunday 2/18/24) at this link, after which time the film will be available for community screenings. To host one, apply here. The trailer is available here. The film’s website can be found here.

The film was created by Ian MacKenzie, John Wolfstone, and Julia Maryanska of Re/Culture Films. Its release represents the culmination of nine years of work that began with an invitation to visit Tamera in 2015. It feels really beautiful to see, through the eyes of this film, what is possible within the realm of community and human connection.