The executive director of the Buddhist Film Foundation discusses this year’s selection of great Buddhist films and the first Buddhist streaming platform
film
Carving the Divine Streaming on Vimeo!
Watch the documentary on Japanese Buddhist sculptors. “Carving the Divine” releases today on 1 April
Buddha Cārikā: A Documentary Series Based on 2,400 Kilometers of Retracing Xuanzang on Foot
The first episode of a milestone series based on the Buddha’s life and land, released by Dharma Drum Mountain
The Yuji Experience: A Singular Voice for Japanese Buddhist Sculpture
Exploring the heritage, beauty, and intricacy of Japanese Buddhist sculpture with Yujiro Seki
In a milestone for Buddhist film, “Carving the Divine” is coming to Raindance
It is no secret that the film industry is going through an accelerated evolution. What should always remain at the core of the debate, however, is quality content. I find it very heartening that Yujiro Seki’s Carving the Divine, one of the most original Buddhist-themed films to have come out in recent years, will be […]
Film Review: “Tashi and the Monk”
An accidental baby born to a very young woman in the state of Arunachal Pradesh in India—one of the most remote and disadvantaged areas of the Himalayan region—Lobsang Phuntsok was considered to be an “uninvited guest of the universe.” Having started his life as a difficult, unruly boy, Lobsang was sent to a monastery in […]
“A Hidden Life”: A Portrait of Non-Violent Action in an Era of Suffering and Spiritual Silence
Filmmaker Terrence Malick’s most recent release, A Hidden Life, takes place in St. Radegund, a rural Austrian municipality of approximately 500 people. Based on a true story, the film follows Franz Jägerstätter, a farmer who takes peaceful action by refusing to swear allegiance to Hitler and to fight in the German military during the Second […]
Wry and Kind Piety: Revisiting Donald Scripps in “The History Boys”
Just under a decade ago, I went through a The History Boys phase (both the play and film)—perhaps due to lingering memories of my high school years in an all-boy’s institution and reliving echoes of the camaraderie, bravado, and insecurities that dog such a testosterone-saturated environment. I resonated with one of the characters so much […]
Buddhist Media: Jesco Puluj’s Search for Paths Less Travelled
What does it mean to be a follower of the Buddha’s path? The Enlightened One was, after all, the Prime Wanderer, the First Monk. His life, no matter how shadowy from a historical perspective, defines how we see Buddhism and its subsequent presence in human history. In theory, he is not really unique at all, […]
When Nature Devours Civilization
Last night I watched Wind River, director Taylor Sheridan’s intense film about the disappearance and murder of a Native American woman, Natalie Hanson. The ambience is extraordinary, the motives for violence primal. The movie, whose protagonists are a hunter deeply embedded in the Native American community (Jeremy Renner) and a well-meaning but unprepared FBI agent (Elizabeth […]