Episode 70 – Yuval Noah Harari & the Point of Storytelling

Phi Phenomenon

With the existential change to theatrical filmgoing after last year, many filmmakers are doing their own existential rethinks of why they do what they do. In a wide-ranging conversation, writer/director Julio Quintana is on this episode to discuss one of the more popular trilogy of non-fiction books of the last few years: Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, Homo Deus: A Brief History of the Future, and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, and the philosopher/historian’s theories on why humans tell stories. On this episode, we discuss:

- (spoiler: why storytelling might, potentially, be the organizing principle of all human civilization);
- mimicry and worship in terms of the inspiration of art;
- how human brains think in terms of narrative, consecutive images/sounds, and disparate events;
- and Quintana’s origins coming at filmmaking from both his father’s engineering background and, academically, religious studies.

Also:

- How narratives sustain institutions around nations, religions, and corporations;
- why Quintana felt his first film was a narrative worth dying for and passing on;
- the sacrifices he made for audience narratives on his most recent film;
- and how money and currency correlates to society’s idea of value or purpose?

Yuval Noah Harari’s books include Sapiens (which has sold more than 12 million copies worldwide), Homo Deus, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, and his most recent, the graphic novel Sapiens: A Graphic History. His books and more can be found on his website.

Julio Quintana recently co-wrote and directed Netflix’s Blue Miracle, which stars Dennis Quaid, Jimmy Gonzalez, and debuted in its Top 10. He also wrote and directed 2017’s The Vessel, starring Martin Sheen, currently available on VOD.