Festival of Tibetan Films and Films about Tibet FLIM PragueThe Festival of Tibetan Films and Films about Tibet FLIM, which is organized by Potala, o.p.s. in cooperation with Kino Světozor on December 10-11, will offer two new releases of Himalayan cinema this year in its 16th year:
The first of these is Pig at the Crossing by the renowned Bhutanese director and screenwriter Khyentse Norbu Rinpoche, who is both an influential and respected spiritual teacher and a leading filmmaker with an overlap in Buddhism, mysticism and social taboos. The film, which deals with the themes of karma, transience and self-realization in the context of sudden death, was available in 2023, but its release was rejected by more than 30 international festivals. The virtual premiere, which was watched by over ten thousand viewers from all over the world, took place on May 11, 2024. Martin Scorsese wrote about the film: “Such a beautiful film. Sweet, sad and moving.” The FLIM festival may be small, but we love Khyentse Norbu’s smart and thought-provoking films. We have presented several of them in previous years: Looking for a Lady with Fangs and Mustache, Vara: Blessings, Trvellers and Magicians. Those who remember him may also remember the filmmaker’s first independent film, The Cup, from 1999, about monks crazy about football, which was shown in our cinemas. This self-taught Bhutanese learned the craft of filmmaking from Bernardo Bertolucci (Little Buddha, 1993).
The second new film this year is Shambhala, which was made in a large international co-production by Nepalese director Mín Bahádur Bhám. It takes place in the remote high-altitude region of Dolpo, where history, tradition and way of life are intertwined with Tibetan culture. The beautiful and harsh landscape of the Himalayas is the backdrop for a personal story reflecting ancient customs, when a woman takes her husband’s brothers as her co-husbands. However, even such an arrangement has its rules. Viewers may remember the cult film Caravan – Himalayas from 1999 by director Eric Valli… And so, after twenty-five years, we return to the still difficult-to-access areas of Nepal sought after by adventurers and high-altitude trekkers. The film was shown this year at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, but without any context.
Since one of the days of the FLIM festival is December 10, when the Nobel Peace Prize is officially awarded, we also want to commemorate its winner, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, who received it in 1989. We will present the documentary film The Dalai Lama - Scientist, made in 2019 by director Dawn Gifford Engle. The film presents the Dalai Lama’s journey from his own interest in science and its usefulness for society to personal meetings with scientists from around the world and the initiation of joint research and the search for common ground between Buddhist and Western science. Such a meeting of two worlds of knowledge and experience helps to work together for the benefit of physical and mental health, understanding and compassion for all.
Last year, the audience was drawn to the documentary Thugdam: Between Worlds by director Donagh Coleman from 2022. The film explores the phenomenon of thugdam from a scientific perspective – a state in which highly spiritually realized Buddhist practitioners clinically die, yet their bodies, without signs of decomposition, seem to continue meditating.
Due to the great interest in this topic, we decided to repeat the documentary this year. At the same time, it will form a link between the themes of death, the intermediate state of the bardo, karma and the cycle of reincarnation, examined through strictly scientific methods, and the imaginative approach of film language.
All films will be followed by a discussion with invited guests.
We look forward to seeing you at the screenings.