''Challenging Impossibility'' is a 2011

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

which chronicles the weightlifting odyssey of the spiritual teacher Sri Chinmoy, who in 1985 at the age of 54 took up

weightlifting Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

and performing feats of strength using the power of

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique to train attention and awareness and detach from reflexive, "discursive thinking", achieving a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state, while not judging the meditat ...

. His lifts were featured on newscasts worldwide, inspiring people to transcend their personal limitations and to abandon their concepts of the restrictions of physical age. Directed by Natabara Rollosson and

Sanjay Rawal Sanjay Rawal (born October 30, 1974) is an Indian-American documentary film director who lives in New York City. His first feature length film '' Food Chains'' premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in its Culinary Cinema Programme in 2014 and ha ...

. The film was an Official Selection of the 2011

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...

and premiered April 22, 2011.

Synopsis

The subject of ''Challenging Impossibility'' is the weightlifting odyssey of Sri Chinmoy, a spiritual teacher who came from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

to live in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and began lifting weights at the age of 54. The film features news footage and interviews with bodybuilders, strongmen, olympians, and

biomechanics Biomechanics is the study of the structure, function and motion of the mechanical aspects of biological systems, at any level from whole organisms to Organ (anatomy), organs, Cell (biology), cells and cell organelles, using the methods of mechani ...

experts. The film follows a historical narrative that builds upon a public display of strength that Sri Chinmoy performed in 2004 at York College. Starting out with basic dumbbells (40 lbs) in 1985, Sri Chinmoy quickly progressed to lift cars, planes and elephants in an effort to show how meditation can develop inner peace that can translate to tangible outer power and strength. Along Chinmoy’s journey of “self-transcendence” he honored and inspired individuals who have uplifted humanity by literally lifting them on a platform above the head in an award program titled "Lifting Up the World with a Oneness-Heart". From its creating in 1987, Sri Chinmoy lifted over 7000 people, including

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

Desmond Tutu Desmond Mpilo Tutu (7 October 193126 December 2021) was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbishop ...

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and social activist. A global cultural icon, widely known by the nickname "The Greatest", he is often regarded as the gr ...

, Sting,

Eddie Murphy Edward Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American actor, comedian, and singer. He had his breakthrough as a standup comic before gaining stardom for his film roles; he is widely recognized as one of the greatest comedians of all time. H ...

Susan Sarandon Susan Abigail Sarandon (; née Tomalin; born October 4, 1946) is an American actor. With a career spanning over five decades, she is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition to ...

Roberta Flack Roberta Cleopatra Flack (February 10, 1937 – February 24, 2025) was an American singer and pianist known for her emotive, genre-blending ballads that spanned R&B, jazz, Folk music, folk, and pop and contributed to the birth of the quiet storm ...

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono (, usually spelled in katakana as ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up in Tokyo and moved to New York ...

, Jeff Goldblum, and

Richard Gere Richard Tiffany Gere ( ; born August 31, 1949) is an American actor. He began appearing in films in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in ''Looking for Mr. Goodbar (film), Looking for Mr. Goodbar'' (1977) and a starring role in ''Days of Hea ...

. Chinmoy’s training culminated when he held a public demonstration of his feats of strength at age 73 in the presence of strength experts such as 5-time Mr. Universe Bill Pearl, 3-time

Mr. Olympia Mr. Olympia is the title awarded to the winner of the professional men's bodybuilding contest in the open division at Joe Weider's Olympia Fitness & Performance Weekend—an international bodybuilding competition that is held annually and is sanct ...

Frank Zane, 2002 World’s Strongest Man Hugo Girard and 9-time Olympic Gold-Medalist

Carl Lewis Frederick Carlton Lewis (born July 1, 1961) is an American former track and field athlete who won nine Olympic gold medals, one Olympic silver medal, and 10 World Championships medals, including eight gold. Lewis was a dominant sprinter and lo ...

. In the film, Lewis described how when Sri Chinmoy lifted weights, “It’s like gravity stops”. Chinmoy’s lifts were featured on newscasts worldwide on outlets such as

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

CNN International Cable News Network International or CNN International (CNNi, simply branded on-air as CNN) is an international television channel and website, owned by CNN Worldwide. CNN International carries news-related programming worldwide; it cooperates ...

, ABC,

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

, CBS, Fox, and numerous local affiliates. Chinmoy performed his own strenuous feats to spread his message of world harmony and inner peace, to inspire people to transcend their personal limitations and to abandon their concepts of the restrictions of physical age. Appearances in the film also include

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

Mother Teresa Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu (born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, ; 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), better known as Mother Teresa or Saint Mother Teresa, was an Albanian-Indian Catholic Church, Roman Catholic nun, founder of the Missionaries of ...

, and

Princess Diana Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997), was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William ...

Premiere

The film premiered at the 2011

in New York on April 22, 2011, in a new bracket of inspiring short documentaries in which "positive thinking prevails". At the premier, Carl Lewis described how Sri Chinmoy encouraged him to transcend his own personal limitations. " Sri Chinmoy inspired me, and he's followed my career, actually he's one of the few people that had been to all four of my Olympic Games...when you were in his presence it was always positive, you never heard anything negative, he was always inspiring you to be better than yourself and think about other people." Also in attendance for the premier were Frank Zane, Hugo Girard, Nadine Tremblay, and Wayne DeMilia, who all appear in the film.

Exhibit

A pop-up exhibition of Chinmoy’s weightlifting equipment that appeared in the film. The exhibit coincided with the premier of the film in Tribeca from April 15 to May 2, 2011. On display were numerous custom-made machines, such as a standing calf raise machine which Sri Chinmoy used to set a record of lifting 2,400 pounds, "the equivalent of lifting an elevator packed full of people". Among the machines was also the apparatus Sri Chinmoy used to lift people in his "Lifting Up the World with a Oneness-Heart" program, which he used to honor individuals of inspiration by lifting them overhead on a platform.

References

External links

Movie: Challenging Impossibility
vimeo.com * *
Tribeca Film Festival Challenging Impossibility
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141115193133/http://tribecafilm.com/filmguide/archive/512cde871c7d76e0460004df-challenging-impossibility , date=2014-11-15
New York Times: A Monument to Strength as a Path to Enlightenment
2011 films 2011 documentary films American documentary films Documentary films about spirituality Sports events founded by Sri Chinmoy 2010s English-language films 2010s American films English-language documentary films