Some of the best movies made each year are never seen. Many films that inspire, open the heart and transform the viewer – but don't fit into the traditional “Hollywood mold” – never make it into your local movie theater. But now you can see these kinds of films in your home with a recently launched DVD film club, The Spiritual Cinema Circle. Since its April 2004 launch, over 9,000 people in 58 different countries have signed on.

Stephen Simon, a veteran Hollywood film producer of over 25 mainstream films, including Somewhere In Time and What Dreams May Come, recently joined up with best selling authors Gay & Katie Hendricks to introduce spiritual cinema into the world. Simon had talked about a distribution company for spiritual entertainment for years, but it was Gay Hendricks who finally initiated the idea. Partnering with Simon, they now bring forty to forty-five spiritual films per year into people's homes.

“Spiritual cinema engages our collective human spirit and makes us feel better about being human,” says Simon. He lists films like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Ghost and Niki Caro's 2003 indie hit Whale Rider as good examples of mainstream films that fit within the spiritual cinema genre. He notes, however, that many small films are made every year that do not have the opportunity to be widely viewed. “I have the unique privilege of traveling around the world to give keynote talks at film festivals, and I began to realize that some of the most touching, heartwarming films just weren't being seen by enough people.”

With The Circle, Simon hopes that will change. For $24 per month, subscribers receive three to five films each month on DVD that become theirs to keep. By hand-selecting uplifting, inspiring and heartwarming short, feature and documentary films from film festivals around the world, The Circle does the “homework” for its members and issues a new volume each month.

“I'm confident The Spiritual Cinema Circle will reconnect adults with movies they'll love and want to see,” assures Simon. “We view our films as a return to shamanic storytelling, not at all like the effect-heavy, sequel-ridden, dumb comedies Hollywood churns out to reach the under-25 film audience.”

The Circle acquired national radio host Mark Thompson's debut feature film, Mother Ghost, for its Volume Three distribution. Thompson wrote and stars in this touching drama that elicits both tears and smiles. Thompson, playing a parent troubled by the loss of his mother, stars alongside big names like Kevin Pollak, Dana Delany and Joe Mantegna. “We hope our films stir people to remember who we can be,” encourages Simon. “Who we can be when we reach beyond the seen, into the realm where we engage the magical aspects of our human potential.”