2007 INTERNATIONAL BUDDHIST FILM FESTIVAL DEBUTS IN SINGAPORE
FIRST TIME IN ASIA
http://www.ibff.org/index.cfm?pg=E0
http://www.asianbuddhistfilmfest.org/
Films from Nine Nations; Seven Singapore Premieres Opening Night
Benefits Two Charities
These films can change the way people see the world.
The first International Buddhist Film Festival (IBFF) in Asia opens
in Singapore, Thursday, May 17 for a four day run. Showcasing a
diverse program with the theme Medium of Reflection, the 2007
IBFF features works from nine nations, with seven Singapore
premieres.
The opening night film is the Singapore premiere of the
award-winning Shower, by Zhang Yang, from China. A portion of the
proceeds from the opening night program will benefit two Singapore
charities, The Presidents Challenge and Childrens Cancer
Foundation, and the guest of honor is Singapores Minister for
Health, Mr. Khaw Boon Wan.
Ranging from dramas and comedies to documentaries and animation,
the IBFF includes the Singapore premiere of the recent AFI Festival
Grand Jury Prize winner, Buddhas Lost Children, a Dutch
documentary filmed in Thailand about a former Thai boxer turned
Buddhist monk who builds an orphanage, school and clinic--a haven
for the children of that strife-ridden region.
Among the other Singapore premieres are rare screenings of
Buddhist-themed episodes of international hit television shows The
Simpsons and King of the Hill, along with films from China, Bhutan,
India, Canada, England and the US. Several of the filmmakers are
traveling to Singapore to be on hand for Q & A sessions
following their films. A guest speaker, British-born monk Venerable
Ajahn Brahm, will give a talk on Sunday, May 20.
Three films connected with noted Bhutan-born Tibetan lama Dzongsar
Khyentse Rinpoche will be shown. Two dramatic features he directed,
The Cup, and Travellers & Magicians, were filmed on location in
India and Bhutan respectively. The third is the Singapore premiere
of a documentary by Canadian Leslie Ann Patton, Words of My Perfect
Teacher, which follows him from the World Cup in Europe all the way
to Bhutan in search of a better understanding of the
teacher-student relationship in Tibetan Buddhism.
The Asian premiere of renowned German director Doris Dörries new
feature-length documentary How to Cook Your Life will be screened
on Sunday, May 20. This profile of San Francisco chef, author and
Zen priest Edward Espe Brown explores principles of Zen Buddhism as
they apply to the preparation of food as well as life itself. The
award-winning Dörries comedy Enlightenment Guaranteed, filmed on
location in a Japanese Zen monastery, will be screened on May
19.
Rounding out the program is the Singapore premiere of Compassion In
Exile, the award-winning portrait of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama,
filmed on location in India by Mickey Lemle.
The IBFF is presented by Singapores Asian Buddhist Film Festival
(ABFF), a newly formed organization dedicated to this emerging
cinema arena. The festival has been organized to encourage fresh
thinking through contemporary reflections on Buddhist ideas, using
the internationally potent medium of film. We want to make these
films, some of which are not readily available, more accessible to
wider audiences, said Bhavna Vedhara, executive director of
ABFF.
The ABFF is in strategic partnership with Buddhist Film Society
(BFS), the independent non-profit educational organization based in
Oakland, California that founded the IBFF in 2000. BFSs Advisory
Council includes Philip Glass, Lisa Lu, Richard Gere, Maxine Hong
Kingston, Robert Thurman and Alice Walker. The Singapore IBFF comes
after successful IBFF presentations in Los Angeles, Washington,
D.C. and San Francisco in the US, and Amsterdam in Holland.
BFS, through its International Buddhist Film Festival and Festival
Media distribution service, offers cinema as a vehicle for wider
appreciation and better understanding of Buddhism by general
audiences, particularly for the remarkable ethnic and cultural
diversity evident among Buddhists worldwide today. Many of the
filmmakers arent Buddhists. Theyre all artists exploring issues
and ideas that are in alignment with any of the wisdom traditions
that value compassion. These films can change the way people see
the world, said IBFFs executive director, Gaetano Kazuo Maida,
who will be attending.
Works are chosen through a combination of program committee
invitations as well as through international Call For Entries
solicitations. The films include English language or subtitled
works from all over the world, and embrace a very broad and fluid
definition of Buddhist.
Visit the ABFF website for more information about the IBFF program
in Singapore, including screening schedule, locations and ticket
sales.
