Friday, April 9, 2010
Leaving Fear Behind 6:00 pm
(FREE public screening)Speaker: Jamang Norbu
Directors: Dhondup Wangchen & Jigme Golog
25 min, 2008 (G) - Tibetan (with English subtitles)
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A heroic film shot by Tibetans from inside Tibet. With the 2008 Beijing Olympics
on the horizen and the global spotlight on China, the filmmakers captured moving
unedited voices of ordinary Tibetans on their views on China’s policies in Tibet.
The footage for this film was then smuggled out of Tibet just before the
filmmakers were captured and imprisoned. This Free Screening is presented in
the hopes of fulfilling the wishes of filmmakers’ and of the Tibetans inside Tibet.
A Song for Tibet 7:30 pm
Director: Anne Henderson57 min, 1991 (G) - English
Speaker: Dicki Chhoyang
Winner
- Hawaii International Film Festival - People’s Choice Award
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Filmed in the Indian Himalayas and in Canada, A Song for Tibet tells the
dramatic story of the efforts by Tibetans-in-exile, to save their homeland
and preserve their heritage against overwhelming odds.
Unmistaken Child 9:30 pm
Director: Nati Baratz - 102 min, 2008 (G)English/Tibetan/Hindi/Nepali (with English subtitles)
Winner
- River Run film Festival - Best Documentary
- Independent Film Festival of Boston - Special Jury Prize
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Unmistaken Child follows the four-year search for the reincarnation of
Lama Konchog, a world-renowned Tibetan master who passed away in 2001
at age 84. Tenzin Zopa, the deceased monk’s devoted disciple, is assigned
to search for his master’s reincarnation. Tenzin sets off on this unforgettable
quest, and performs rarely seen ritualistic tests designed to determine the
likelihood of reincarnation. He eventually presents the child he believes
to be his reincarnated master to the Dalai Lama so that he can make the
final decision.“A rather fascinating look at a beautiful culture. The imagery is BEYOND STUNNING.”
– Sara Vilkomerson, New York Observer
“A poignant piece of non-fiction filmmaking…manages to be as graceful as its subject is divine.”
– Wesley Morris, Boston Globe
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Women of Tibet (2 part) 4:30 pm
The Great Mother - 60 minsA Quiet Revolution - 60 mins
Director: Rosemary Rawcliffe • 2008 (G) - English
Winner
- 2009 EMMY® Winner, 2008 Silver & Bronze TELLY award
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Gyalyum Chemo, The Great Mother, explores the life of Dekyi Tsering,
the mother of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama and the Great Mother
Archetype. The film interweaves the story of two Mothers - a Universal
Great Mother that lives within each of us and Dekyi Tsering, an ordinary
village woman who became known as Gyalyum Chemo, the Great Mother of the
Tibetan nation.
A Quiet Revolution chronicles the story of one of the great movements of nonviolent resistance in mode rn history. In March 1959, an estimated 15,000 unarmed Tibetan women took to the streets of Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, to oppose the violent occupation of their country by the Communist Chinese. The surviving exiled elders are the last generation of women left to tell the story and to transmit the cultural legacy they carry. These women, having survived decades in prison and perilous escapes across the Himalayas, along with their daughters and granddaughters, today, have become the architects and builders of a new Tibet in exile.
Fire Under the Snow 7:00 pm
Directed by Makoto Sasa75 min, 2008 (PG) • Tibetan (with English subtitles)
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Palden Gyatso, a Tibetan Buddhist monk, was arrested by the Chinese
Communist Army in 1959, and spent the next 33 years in prison for the
“crimes” of peaceful demonstration. He was tortured, starved and sentenced
to hard labor. The film investigates the basis of Palden’s resilience, and
reveals the contours of an inspirational story: the survival of a mind and
a soul under unthinkable duress.
The Sun Behind the Clouds 9:00 pm
(Closing Night)Speakers: Jamyang Norbu and Dir. Tenzing Sonam.
Directors: Ritu Sarin & Tenzing Sonam
79 min, 2009 (PG)
Community screening • English
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Tibet. March 2008. The biggest uprising since China took control in 1959 sweeps
through the country. Meanwhile, Tibetans in exile march on their homeland,
determined to support their countrymen. This is a year of dramatic
possibilities for Tibet. For more than 20 years, the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s
spiritual and political leader, has pursued his Middle Way Approach: giving
up the goal of Tibet’s independence in return for genuine autonomy. But China
has consistently rejected his proposal. Now, more and more Tibetans are
questioning his strategy. Can the Dalai Lama’s path of peace and compromise
find a solution for Tibet? Or will the voices calling for independence prevail.