Since the original public performance of "Zeitgeist" in 2007, there has been an evolution of intent which has manifested into an on-going film expression consisting now of multiple productions. While each film stands on its own with regard to content, the Zeitgeist Film Series as a whole has a dedicated social intent to create awareness about the world we share, the problems we face, along with what we can do to make it better as a collective species.

As the definition of "Zeitgeist" states, we are dealing with the "intellectual/spiritual/cultural awareness of the time" and it is the goal of this project to explore what makes us who we are, how we relate, what we are doing and what we should be doing if we wish to live in a peaceful, abundant, and healthy global community.

Paired with this is the interest in a free, uninhibited information/media project. The Zeitgeist Film Series is not a commercial project in that it is designed for public consumption without inhibitions such as common copyright limitations. All films, while technically copyright to combat financial abuse and exploitation, are universally available for duplication, broadcast, screening events and digital distribution without the need for permission. However, this Project is only possible to continue if people do purchase the DVD or support the download Torrents via Donation.

As alluded to above, the history of "Zeitgeist: The Movie" is not what many assume. The original Zeitgeist was not a film, but a performance piece, which consisted of a vaudevillian style multi-media event using recorded music, live instruments and video. [The only known (camera phone) recording is posted here.] The event was given over a 6-night period in New York City and then, without any interest to professionally release or produce the work, was "tossed" up on the Internet arbitrarily. The work was never designed as a film or even a documentary in a traditional sense - it was designed as a creative, provoking, emotionally driven expression, full of artistic extremity and heavily stylized gestures. (For more about the evolution of "Zeitgeist, The Movie" please see the Q & A at www.zeitgeistthefilm.com )

However, once online, an unexpected flood of interest began to generate. Within 6 months over 50 Million views were recorded on Google Video counters (before they were reset for some reason). The current combined estimates put the number of Internet views at over 200 million as of 2011. Suddenly "Zeitgeist" the event, became "Zeitgeist: The Movie".

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In turn, the decision was made to make a follow up in 2008 entitled "Zeitgeist: Addendum". (www.zeitgeistaddendum.com) Originally this was going to conclude the Series, introducing ideas of resolve for some of our ongoing social problems. Yet, this work succeeded in sparking a mass shift of attention, inspiring the development of an activist organization now called The Zeitgeist Movement. This Movement, founded by Peter Joseph, now works globally to spread information about a new social reform ideas. With over 500,000 registrations from nearly all countries as of mid 2011, the development has been dynamic. However, this is an aside - the Zeitgeist Film Series, while an inspiration for The Movement which shares the term "Zeitgeist", is not to be confused with the content / views of the films in detail, which are personal to Peter Joseph alone. The Zeitgeist Movement is an economic/sustainability movement at its core and its relationship to the Film Series content is not in tandem.

On January 15, 2011, the third of the series, "Zeitgeist: Moving Forward", was released independently in over 60 countries and in over 30 languages with over 340 screenings worldwide. Likely the largest independent documentary release of it kind in history. This more traditional, interview based documentary focuses on the very fabric of the social order: Monetary-Market Economics.

While the majority of the world today have slowly come to see some basic flaws in the economic system we share, as large scale debt defaults, inflation, industrial pollution, resource depletion, rising cancer rates and other signposts emerge to bring the concern into the realm of “public health” overall, very few however consider the economic paradigm as a whole as the source. The tendency is to demand reform in one area or another, avoiding the possibility that perhaps the entire system is intrinsically flawed at the foundational level. ZMF presents the case that it is, indeed, the very foundational mechanics of this system that generates the patterns of behavior and unsustainable methods of conduct that are leading to the vast spectrum of detrimental consequences both personal, social, and environmental and the longer they go on, the worse things will become.

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Zeitgeist: Beyond the Pale, the 4th installment of the 'Zeitgeist Film Series', [anticipated for release in late 2012 / Early 2013] will continue its exploration of modern culture - this time from the perspective of what comprises the values dominant in society today and considerations of their merit with respect to social substantiality.

This defiantly critical work will compare the social norms and established practices of contemporary society to the largely ignored benchmark of our scientific reality, illuminating the growing, detrimental separation between rational, objective and progressive thought and the traditional practices and presumptions which continue to dominate our societal operations today.

The focus will be on culturally dominant value systems, beliefs and institutions, with the challenge proposed: Are your values and beliefs sustainable? Are the deeply held, conditioned beliefs and reinforced patterns of behavior common today actually serving to advance our societies? Or are these beliefs holding back and even corrupting the human species to an extent that might lead to our extinction?

Zeitgeist: Beyond The Pale, as the title suggests, will move beyond taboo and social inhibition in form. It will hold nothing sacred except the interest to consider that dynamic alignment with nature itself in the hope that our values and practices can be adapted to what actually "works", exploring the evolutionary baggage which perpetuates the ongoing patterns of war, imbalance, division, greed, abuse and other characteristics of modern society that many today often just accept as "givens" for the human condition.

[Late Update: May 30th 2011]