2008

Due to expensive school fees TIbetan children have no access to education, but are sent to Indian monasteries led by Tibetan monks for training. They leave their families and start in small groups on their dangerous way through the ice and snow covered Himalayan mountains. Many do not arrive: They are either caught in TIbet or they die on the way because of the cold weather. And even at the end of the long journey there is still a heavy burden, since the children do not know, when they will see their parents again.

A moving short documentary about children fleeing Tibet to seek an education and a better life in exile in India. They leave their families in small groups and start on their dangerous way through the ice and snow covered Himalayan mountains. Many do not make it - either they are caught on the way or die due the extreme conditions and weather. And even at the end of the journey there is still a heavy burden, since the children do not know when they will see their parents again.

 Along the highest mountain passes of the Himalayas, tough, intrepid Jalan (Milind Soman) and his gang earn their living by stealing from unsuspecting travellers. Abiding by their own, unique codes of honour and dividing the spoils equally, all is routine until the arrival of the mystifying, beautiful Ushna (Lena Jam-Panoi). Appearing mysteriously after the raid of a pilgrim caravan, Ushna adheres to Jalan, claiming to have seen him in her dreams, and refusing to leave his side.

Milarepa, Tibet’s greatest meditation master, lived as a yogi at the end of the eleventh century. Born into affluence, Milarepa watched as their estate was stolen by an ambitious uncle. To avenge this injustice, Milarepa mastered the arts of black magic and assassinated his uncle’s family and friends. Almost immediately Milarepa felt great remorse for his brutality and set out to undo his bad karma. Guided by a spiritual teacher named Marpa, Milarepa endured many physical hardships and mental challenges designed to purify his negative actions.

‘The Unwinking Gaze’ offers a unique, behind-the-scenes insight into the recent working life of Tibet’s would-be saviour and revered world icon the Dalai Lama.

The Unwinking Gaze was filmed over a period of three years with exceptional access showing the daily agonies of the Tibetan leader as he tries to strike a balance between his Buddhist vows and the realpolitik needed to placate China. David and Goliath is played out in front of us as the world’s emerging superpower and the Dalai Lama walk a tightrope over an issue of global importance.

Karma, a Tibetan filmmaker from New York, goes to Dharamsala, the Dalai Lama’s exile headquarters in northern India, to make a documentary about former political prisoners who have escaped from Tibet. She wants to reconnect with her roots but is also escaping a deteriorating relationship back home.