SEARCHING FOR NIRVANA
From the director of Netflix's The Last Shaman,
a feature documentary by Raz Degan.
12 YEARS IN THE MAKING
Some seek Nirvana in caves.
Others find it in the eyes of those they left behind.
SYNOPSIS
1970s Italy: A young revolutionary watches his lover die in his arms from an overdose as police close in. Ridden with guilt, Giancarlo flees to India, hurls his passport into the sacred Ganges, and vanishes—reborn as Shiva Das, a wandering holy man seeking liberation from his past.
But karma follows like a shadow.
Even as a monk, he remains untamed—a radical spirit refusing to bow to any orthodoxy, Western or Eastern. The enlightenment he seeks is a freedom that answers to no doctrine. Through chaos and unpredictability, his journey of extremes leads to a final twist of fate: somewhere in the world, Snowie—a daughter he abandoned and never met—holds the key to his ultimate redemption. In his final hours, she stands at the crossroads between bureaucratic chains and spiritual release, between Italian earth and Ganges water, between bondage and salvation.
"Searching for Nirvana" is not just an odyssey of awakening—it’s a primal story of a rebel who made spirituality itself an act of defiance. Along his remarkable saga, we face a searing paradox: that our deepest liberation often lies in the reckoning of every choice we’ve made along the way.
CHARACTERS
SHIVA DAS
Born Giancarlo Cassuti, a freethinker and musician, a rebellious anarchist, drug addict, and alcoholic. He crossed the realms of society a trafficker, a deserter, and prisoner, transforming into a monk, an ascetic renouncer, and a devotee of the Dharma. A passionate lover and relentless thrill-seeker, Shiva is torn between his longing for liberation and the weight of karma that refuses to let go.
DIRECTOR'S NOTES
"Searching for Nirvana" continues my exploration of humanity's search for meaning and belonging. Building on my previous documentary "The Last Shaman" —a Netflix Exclusive executive-produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, this film delves deeper: journeying into the heart of Hindu faith, walking with sadhus on the sacred Ganges, and capturing Shiva’s radical pursuit of ultimate freedom.
In a world drowning in deception and artificial realities, where truth dissolves in gaslight, the search for something real feels more urgent than ever. We are lost in fractured identities, scarred by wounds we carry and choices we inherit—scars that ripple through generations, shaping destinies before we even understand them.
This film is my answer to the noise—a story bigger than fiction, rawer than myth, and more human than we dare to admit. It’s not just Giancarlo’s story. It’s all of ours. About the scars we carry, the love we hide, and the relentless search for a place where we belong.
— Raz Degan
A VISUAL ODYSSEY SPANNING 6 DECADES
PRODUCTION OVERVIEW
Shot over twelve years across Italy, Thailand and India.
"SEARCHING FOR NIRVANA" COMBINES:
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Original footage (RED/Sony FX6):
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Real-life events captured as they unfolded
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Ceremonies + rituals documented in authentic settings
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Interviews and reenactments
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Archival materials
CURRENT STATUS
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Principal photography: 90% complete
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Editing: in progress
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Post-production: pending
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Original score composition: pending
SEEKING PRESALE
BEHIND THE SCENES
When I first met Giancarlo, he wasn’t what I expected. Sitting in a café in his saffron robe, sipping a cappuccino, he seemed more like a character than someone real. Was he a seeker or a fraud? A man hiding behind a persona? I doubted him, questioned his authenticity. But there was something in his eyes—untold stories, unbearable truths. I couldn’t look away.
As I got to know him, I pushed and provoked, trying to break the facade I believed he wore. But it wasn’t a lie—it was a fortress built around pain. Scars so deep they bled through generations. Judged, condemned, cast aside, he never surrendered his truth.
Giancarlo renounced—his family, his possessions, his stability. A beggar, a revolutionary, a wandering sadhu. He lived in contradiction. And yet, the only thing he had to offer was love—not romantic, but raw and unflinching, persisting when everything else was gone. It was all he had, and it was everything.
His journey, marked by loss, exile, and redemption, captivated me—not because it was perfect, but because it wasn’t. It’s a story of transformation, of scars that linger, and the courage to confront the ties you can’t sever, while walking through the fire of your own truth.