2015

This ethnographic film documents Khenpo Sodargye’s lectures and dialogues with social scientists in North America and Europe on the topics of environmental health, human flourishing, the scientific understanding of the mind, and Buddhist vision of world peace in spring 2013.

On the invitation and prayers of tribal leaders, the Dalai Lama travels to a poor and remote Muslim village at the India Pakistan border. More than a symbolic gesture, the visit results in an invitation by the Dalai Lama to provide a modern education to children from the village while insuring their religious and cultural heritage. Without this film, this amazing story would never be known or seen.

This documentary presents the complex reciprocal saturation of human communities, gods,  Buddha Dharma and natural landscape marked with religious significance. Through the narratives of a father and son, this film illustrates both the transcendental and inter-sentient dimensions of Tibetan sacred sites and of their ecological significance. It documents a ritualized relationship of people and the place of their dwelling and natural surroundings.

Hari, a taxi driver in Dharamsala, in northern India, is preparing to take his vows in a marriage arranged by his father. Tradition states that the engaged couple may not see each other prior to their wedding day. However, telephone contact is not proscribed. Hari is thinking about how marriage will change his life and that of his intended, who will – like all Indian girls – leave her own family to become part of her husband’s, as well as how he will perform as a husband and whether he will be able to feed his future children.

Based partly on true accounts, A Girl From China is a story of discovery, relationship and eventual change in perception. A Shanghai-born Que comes to India to fulfill her childhood dream. In a fateful twist of event, she comes across Karma, a young exile Tibetan artist living in Delhi. Together they journey to Dharamsala, the exile Tibetan enclave in North India. The film tangentially shows that ultimately human relationship can bring about deeper understanding of things.