Philip Robert Cousineau (born 1952) is an American author, lecturer, independent scholar, screenwriter, and documentary filmmaker. He lives in San Francisco, California.
Early life and education
Phil Cousineau was born on 26 November 1952 in Columbia, South Carolina. He grew up Catholic just outside Detroit, with French Canadian roots. He studied journalism at the University of Detroit.
Career Before turning to writing books and films full-time, Cousineau's peripatetic career also included playing semi-professional basketball in Europe, harvesting date trees on an Israeli kibbutz, painting 44 Victorian houses (also known as Painted Ladies in San Francisco), teaching, and leading art and literary tours to Europe. He has worked as a sportswriter and taught screenwriting at the American Film Institute (AFI).
American mythologist Joseph Campbell was a mentor and major influence; Cousineau wrote the documentary film and companion book about Campbell's life, The Hero's Journey. The author of more than 25 nonfiction books, and contributed to magazine publications including Parabola, and Paris magazine. Cousineau has more than 15 documentary screenwriting credits to his name, including the 1991 Academy Award-nominated Forever Activists.
His best known works include Soul: An Archaeology, Readings from Socrates to Ray Charles, which Los Angeles Times columnist Jonathan Kirsch reviewed as "Inspiring, often mind-blowing, sometimes even a little scary," Los Angeles Times, March 2, 1994 and the best-selling book, The Art of Pilgrimage: The Seeker's Guide to Making Travel Sacred.
Cousineau worked with religion scholar Huston Smith on three books as well as four documentary films on contemporary Native American issues. His books have been translated into nine languages.
Cousineau is the host and co-writer of the Link TV television series, Global Spirit, interviewing guests such as Robert Thurman, Karen Armstrong, Andrew Harvey, Deepak Chopra, and Joanne Shenandoah. The first season of Global Spirit was presented by John Cleese and broadcast on PBS-TV stations nationwide in the United States in 2012 and 2013.
A self-avowed night owl, Cousineau published Burning the Midnight Oil, a book of essays and poems about finding inspiration in the night, in 2013.
Filmography +Filmography of CousineauDateTitleRoleProductionNotes1987The Hero's Journey: The World of Joseph Campbell screenwriterNarrated by Peter Donat1990Forever Activists: Stories from the Abraham Lincoln Brigade screenwriterfilm by Connie Field and Judith Montell. Narrated by Ronnie Gilbert, nominated for an Academy Award Best Documentary, Features. (1990).1992Wiping the Tears of Seven GenerationsscreenwriterKifaru Production1993The Presence of the Goddessscreenwriterfilm by Christy Baldwin. Narrated by Isabel Allende1995The Red Road to SobrietyscreenwriterKifaru ProductionNarrated by Benjamin Bratt, about the Native American Sobriety Movement.1995Ecological Design: Inventing the FuturescreenwriterEcological Design Project productionNarrated by Linda Hunt, competed at Sundance Film Festival in 1995.1996The Peyote Road: Ancient Religion in Contemporary CrisisscreenwriterKifaru ProductionNarrated by Peter Coyote.1996Your Humble Serpent: The Life of Reuben SnakescreenwriterKifaru ProductionAwarded "Best Documentary", at Red Earth Film Festival1999Wayfinders: A Pacific OdysseyscreenwriterMaiden Voyage ProductionsPBS documentary, directed by Gail Evenari. Narrated by Napuanalani Cassidy and Patrick Stewart2005A Seat at the Table: Struggling for American Religious Freedom screenwriterKifaru ProductionScreened at the American Indian Film Festival, San Francisco in 2003.2006The Roots of Fundamentalism: A Conversation with Huston Smith and Phil CousineauselfGemsTone Production
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