I left school at 16 and decided to go the autodidact route. Which was one of my better life decisions. Living and working in Sydney Australia from the 60s to early 2000s, most of my creative peers were influenced by postmodernism. I was always a tad sceptical since I found most of the literature confusing. And I observed that my peers seemed afraid to criticise the authority of postmodernist advocates. No one seemed to have a clear handle on what it actually was. This lack of clarity is what I always found troubling. I never felt qualified to consider myself a true intellectual, but that scepticism shaped how I think about creativity and knowledge.

So what has all that got to do with my current feature film project? This: The ART e FACTs Film Series celebrates the unique ability of each and every human to be creative and think critically and to choose knowledge over ignorance, right from wrong and life over death. Sound a little heavy? Not to worry, I’m taking my cues from the likes of Jacques Rivette and Hal Hartley and all directors who create intellectually engaging films that still have wit, human connection, and narrative drive. They’re serious about ideas but not humourless or ponderous.

I think it would be fair to claim that critical thinking was the unifying principle and catalyst for individuals in both the Enlightenment and the 1960s cultural revolution. It’s common knowledge that the 1960s was a decade of radical cultural transformation: The Counterculture/Hippie Movement, Anti-War Activism, Civil Rights and Social Justice, Environmentalism, Sexual Revolution, Music and Art. Less common is the knowledge that the Enlightenment (17th–18th Century, Europe) was on par with the 1960s so-called revolution. The Enlightenment’s focus on reason and liberty mirrors the 1960s’ challenge to authority and social norms.

These days, critical thinking is generally taken for granted, but I would argue that it seems to have quietly exited from the minds of many. My reasons are complex and beyond the scope of this post, but I agree with the often cited opinion that postmodern philosophy’s emphasis on subjectivity and relativism, challenges the Enlightenment’s objective critique and the 1960s’ objective reforms.