Tricycle Buddhist Film Festival

Tricycle Buddhist Film Festival

Expired March 25, 2024 3:59 AM
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9 films in package
Return to Gandhi Road (93 min)
This documentary tells the powerful story of Kangyur Rinpoche, a renowned Tibetan Master. Heeding the imminent danger of the 1950’s Cultural Revolution, and under the instructions of the Dalai Lama, Rinpoche braved the dangerous journey over the Himalayan mountains to India where he rescued two tons of Buddhist texts that otherwise faced potential extinction.
The Sweet Requiem (91 min)
When a young, exile Tibetan woman unexpectedly sees a man from her past, long-suppressed memories of her traumatic escape across the Himalayas are reignited and she is propelled on an obsessive search for reconciliation and closure.
Tukdam – Between Worlds (90 min)
In what Tibetans call tukdam, deceased meditators show no signs of death for days or weeks. Juxtaposing ground-breaking scientific research and Tibetan perspectives, this creative documentary challenges our notions of life and death, and where we draw the line between them.
Closed captions available
Geshe Wangyal. With Blessing of the Three Jewels (77 min)
This film tells the dramatic story about the incredible earthly and spiritual journey of a Buddhist monk from Russia, who became one of the first preachers of Tibetan Buddhism in the United States.
Drapchi Elegy (17 min)
The one-channel video installation weaves together vignettes from the everyday life of Namdol Lhamo, an anonymous exile living in Brussels who happens to be one of the famous Singing Nuns of Drapchi, a group of nuns imprisoned in Tibet in the early 1990s for peacefully demonstrating against Chinese rule. Namdol Lhamo’s sentence, along with that of her companions, was further increased when they were discovered to be secretly recording protest songs in Drapchi Prison and smuggling the tapes to the outside world. She spent a total of 12 years in prison.
Dust to Light (12 min)
The film listens as four Zen practitioners reflect on the transformative process of cleaning when it is approached as a meditation rather than burdensome chore.
The Altar (10 min)
A Buddhist fable-like story about the guilt of a childhood incident of killing an ant while washing hands in the sink. Animated through photographic sequences painted with golds and grays, the Zen-like visuals sweep into one another with whispering monologues and glitching noises reflecting the realms of cosmos, power, guilt, prayers, and existence.
Waking Up 2050 (45 min)
What is Buddhism? A deceptively simple question contemplated through diverse perspectives and stories of Ani Pema Deki (Emma Slade), the first western woman to be ordained in Bhutan, Kodo Nishimura, a Buddhist monk, LGBT activist and make-up artist and Prof. Daniel Veidlinger, Professor of Buddhism, in the Department of Comparative Religion and Humanities at California State University, Chico
Closed captions available
Windhorse (10 min)
SONAM has returned from the US after 20 years. He brings along his estranged son, KARMA, to visit the ancestral monasteries located in high altitude of Manang Village and perform the religious ritual of lighting Butter Lamps - as a rite of passage for his deceased wife. On their journey through the difficult terrains amidst mountain wind, Sonam tries to befriend his son but Karma keeps his distance and resents Sonam for being an absent father.

The selected films explore the rich tapestry of Buddhist thought through the lens of our talented filmmakers. They offer moments of contemplation and awakening, examine the complexities of existence and provide a heartfelt exploration of identity, all the while inviting viewers to contemplate universal truths that connect us all.  May these films, long and short, leave a lasting imprint on our hearts and minds.

Dolkar, a 26-year-old exile Tibetan, lives in Delhi. 18 years ago, she escaped from Tibet with her father, making a perilous trek across the Himalayas that ended in tragedy. Dolkar has suppressed all recollection of that traumatic incident. But when she unexpectedly encounters Gompo, the guide who abandoned them during their journey, memories of her escape are reignited and she is propelled on an obsessive search for retribution and closure. Flashbacks of her desperate journey with a small group through a harsh and desolate Himalayan terrain punctuate her growing predicament in the present as she follows Gompo through the claustrophobic alleys of the Tibetan refugee colony in Delhi. The two stories moving in tandem, both determined by a series of fateful choices, reach their conclusion as Dolkar and Gompo finally confront each other.

  • Year
    2018
  • Runtime
    91 minutes
  • Language
    Tibetan
  • Country
    United States, India
  • Director
    Ritu Sarin, Tenzing Sonam
  • Screenwriter
    Tenzing Sonam
  • Producer
    Ritu Sarin, Shrihari Sathe
  • Executive Producer
    Yodon Thonden, Francesca von Habsburg, Vishwanath Alluri
  • Cast
    Tenzin Dolker, Jampa Kalsang Tamang
  • Editor
    Jabeen Merchant
  • Production Design
    Aradhana Seth
  • Composer
    Michael Montes
  • Music
    Michael Montes
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