Moving Joy
Moving Joy is a film for people who believe that movement, wisdom, nature, and human connection are essential ingredients of a meaningful life.
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"...a gifted teacher who works upon others as the sun and rain upon plants. A master in the arts of living.”
War refugee. Tai Chi master. Beloved teacher. At 88 years old, Chungliang Al Huang radiates movement as joy, resilience, and transformation — bridging past and present, East and West, while inspiring generations of students to live their authentic joy.
Moving Joy is a dynamic portrait of the legendary Taoist teacher whose life has spanned war-torn China, the psychedelic 1960s, and more than six decades at the forefront of the East-West cultural exchange movement — long before mindfulness became mainstream. Equal parts philosopher, performer, and cultural bridge-builder, Chungliang introduced Eastern philosophy to Western audiences through movement, play, and human connection.
From the early days of the Esalen Institute, Chungliang collaborated with some of the most influential artists and thinkers of the twentieth century: co-authoring The Watercourse Way with Alan Watts and crossing creative paths with Sammy Davis Jr., Joseph Campbell, Ram Dass, and Jane Goodall. The film includes Jane Goodall's final filmed interview — a conversation reflecting on friendship, transformation, and the end of life.
Blending rare archival footage, animation, and present-day observation, Moving Joy traces how Chungliang transformed personal upheaval into a philosophy of flow — learning not to fight life, but to move with it. In a time marked by division and disconnection, his lifelong mission to create understanding across cultures feels unexpectedly timely. Moving Joy is not a nostalgic look backward, but a vibrant, deeply human film filled with humor, movement, resilience, and the enduring question of how to remain fully alive while aging.
"Chungliang's artistry communicates compassionate healing of the human soul."
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"Chungliang has found a way to explain ‘the hero’s journey’ to help others follow their bliss."
The Team
Brittany Lee Sanders - Producer / Director
Brittany is an Asian-American visual artist and filmmaker. Her artist books and paintings are in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Getty Museum. Along with her personal artwork, Sanders has worked on multiple award-winning films including: Bird by Bird with Annie about the writer Anne Lamott, Wrestling with Angels: Playwright Tony Kushner, and Fighting for Life about military medics serving on the front line. Sanders graduated with Honors from Brown University.
Zsolt Kadar - Cinematographer
Zsolt is a recipient of a Guggenheim in photography, working in both black and white and color. Along with his photographic projects, he has worked on The Devil’s Own, Monsoon Wedding, and Dunkirk. He was cinematographer for video installation pieces by artist An-My Lê that screened at The Museum of Modern Art.
Christopher Gallo - Cinematographer
Gallo is a globally-minded cinematographer whose work spans features, documentaries, commercials, and music videos—bringing truth, beauty, and authenticity to every frame. His credits include the #1 iTunes/Netflix documentary HEAL, and his films have screened at Sundance, Cannes, SXSW, and Venice. Equally at home filming for National Geographic or Nike, Gallo is known for his unflinching eye, human connection, and visual storytelling. Off set, he’s a mentor, father of three, and lover of surf, motorcycles, and Sunday spaghetti with family.
Dora Wu - Editor
“Siyi” Wu is a BIPOC editor and immigrant storyteller working across narrative and documentary films in the U.S. and internationally. 10 years ago, She moved to Los Angeles to pursue her MFA in Filmmaking at Chapman University. Her recent work includes editing the feature documentary The Rise of Electric Car (the trilogy of Who Killed the Electric Car? ), Hall of Legend: Uzi for League of Legends, and credits include Emmy-nominated Wuhan! Wuhan!, Academy Award-qualified Harper and Academy Award nominated short Some Nerve. She has also assisted on major projects such as Netflix’s The Brothers Sun, Big Vape, and AMC’s Queer for Fear. Dora is passionate about telling heartfelt, unique stories that inform, inspire, and spark cultural and social change.
Avery Storms - Illustrator
Avery is a multidisciplinary artist focusing on visual narratives. Storms’ paintings and illustrations draw from the freedom with which historical and contemporary styles are combined in comics. He graduated in 2018 from Maryland Institute College of Art. Avery Storms is the grandson of Chungliang Al Huang.
Tangelene Bolton - Composer
Tangelene Bolton is a Filipina-American composer and Sundance Composer Fellow whose work spans film, television, animation, and games. A graduate of Berklee College of Music’s Film Scoring program, her credits include Netflix’s Warrior Nun, Comedy Central’s Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens, Blumhouse’s Unseen, Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY-distributed For Our Children, and Disney’s Just a Thought. She has worked with Hans Zimmer and Henry Jackman and contributed additional music to Raphael Saadiq’s Freaky Tales. Drawing on neoclassical, electronic, folk, jazz, experimental, and cross-cultural traditions, Bolton creates intimate, atmospheric scores rooted in character, emotion, and storytelling.
American Film Foundation
American Film Foundation is a Santa Monica based non-profit 501(c)(3) production company that has produced both Academy and Emmy Award winning documentaries. The company's projects range from theatrical documentary films and television series to dramatic feature films.
American Film Foundation has received three Academy Awards and ten Academy Award nominations, an Emmy award and two Emmy nominations.