The International Buddhist Film Festival (IBFF) returns to London this Spring, bringing a compelling selection of Buddhist cinema to the capital from 11-15 April 2012 at the Apollo Piccadilly Circus. The diverse programme will showcase more than a dozen feature films and documentaries, most of which are European and UK premieres – from a Thai murder mystery and a Nepali road movie about a Tibetan nun’s journey to Katmandu to recover a debt, to a host of docs including a Richard Gere-narrated exploration of the life of Buddha and a self-portrait by a filmmaker who was identified as the reincarnation of a renowned Buddhist teacher when he was three years old.
Now celebrating its 10th year, the IBFF has presented festivals in cities across the world from LA, Washington DC and Mexico City to Amsterdam, Singapore and Hong Kong. This will be the first time the IBFF has visited the UK since 2009.
“We are delighted to be returning to London with a wonderful new selection of world cinema with a Buddhist touch,” said Gaetano Kazuo Maida, Executive Director of IBFF. “Drawing on themes from karma, self and happiness to redemption, compassion, community and creativity – often treated with humour – there is something here for everyone, regardless of how much they already know about Buddhism. We’ll also be bringing together renowned guest speakers, filmmakers and audiences to talk about the diversity of Buddhist cultures and experiences across the globe,” he added.
Presented by the Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation, the IBFF is being held in conjunction with the Buddhist Art Forum at the Courtauld Institute of Art at Somerset House, offering Londoners a feast of Buddhist cultural delights across cinema and art.
Highlights of the film festival programme include the UK premiere of Nepali feature Karma (Tsering Rhitar Sherpa – pictured) about a nun who must travel from her remote nunnery to Katmandu in a bid to recover a debt that will save her nunnery. But arriving at the capital, things are not as they seem. Thai-English director Tom Waller takes on one of the popular Father Ananda murder mystery novels with his adaptation of Mindfulness and Murder, here receiving its UK Premiere; he is expected to attend. Set in Bangkok, Former cop Ananda is now a senior monk and asked by the abbot to solve a murder inside his monastery. Also screening is Japanese feature film, Abraxas (Naoki Kato) about a former punk musician turned Buddhist monk who attempts to find nirvana by giving one last performance.
Documentaries include the UK premiere of The Buddha (David Grubin) narrated by Richard Gere – an ambitious and imaginative film incorporating animation to explore the life of Buddha. Receiving its European premiere, Crazy Wisdom (Johanna Demetrakas) explores the life, teachings, and “crazy wisdom” of Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche – a pivotal figure in bringing Tibetan Buddhism to the West, declaring “Enlightenment is better than Disneyland”. The brilliant ‘bad boy of Buddhism,’ he shattered Westerners’ notions of how an enlightened teacher should behave, and drew followers including Beatnik poet Allen Ginsberg and Joni Mitchell who wrote a song about him.
Also making its European Premiere is autobiographical documentary Tulku by Gesar Mukpo, a son of renowned Tibetan Buddhist teacher, Chogyam Trungpa – the subject of the aforementioned Crazy Wisdom – and a British mother, who was identified as the reincarnation of one of his father’s own teachers when he was just three years old. Growing up in the USA and Canada, Gesar had to balance competing cultures and strikingly different notions of self.
The father and son relationship is also explored with the official UK premiere of My Reincarnation from critically-acclaimed American filmmaker Jennifer Fox (Flying: Confessions of a Free Woman). Using footage spanning a remarkable two decades, My Reincarnation is an epic father-son tale about spirituality, cultural survival, identity, tradition and change. The film follows the renowned Tibetan spiritual master, Chögyal Namkhai Norbu, as he struggles to save his spiritual tradition, and his Italian-born son, Yeshi, who resists following in his father’s footsteps. Jennifer Fox is expected to attend.
Also screening is Summer Pasture (Lynn True, Nelson Walker, Tsering Perlo) which documents the lives of two nomadic herders in Tibet, young couple Locho and Yama. Filmed over one summer against a backdrop of extraordinary beauty, their traditional lives are fast being confronted by rapid modernistion.
Documentary Kanzeon (Tim Grabham) is a mysterious and compelling meditation on Japanese Buddhism; director Tim Grabham is expected to attend. Receiving its European premiere is Shugendo Now (Jean-Marc Abela and Mark Patrick McGuire) – a poetic and intimate documentary exploring the school of Japanese asceticism called Shugendo – a blend of Shinto, Daoism and Buddhism. The European premiere of Chinese doc The Great Pilgrim (Jin Tiemu) charts the journey of Tang dynasty monk, Xuanzang, who travelled to India and brought back essential Buddhist text and teachings. This extraordinary achievement inspired the well known books and films known as Journey To the Westand Monkey King.
The festival will also feature a special Spotlight on Burma, comprising Aung San Suu Kyi – Lady of No Fear (Anne Gyrithe Bonnes) – a compelling and fascinating glimpse into the life of the famous pro-Democracy leader – and Into the Current (Jeanne Hallacy) documenting the struggle of prisoners of conscience jailed in Burma, and exploring the non-violent movement and some of its leaders.
IBFF 2012 LONDON is being held in conjunction with the first Buddhist Art Forum which takes place at the Courtauld Institute of Art, Somerset House, 11-14 April. The Forum will be a major event with the participation of more than 30 leading authorities, seeking to address the philosophical issues concerning Buddhism and art, and is also sponsored by the Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation. http://www.courtauld.ac.uk/researchforum/events/2012/spring/apr11-14_BuddhistArtForum.shtml
