2007 Int'l Buddhist Film Festival in S'pore (17-20May)
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2007 INTERNATIONAL BUDDHIST FILM FESTIVAL DEBUTS IN SINGAPORE – FIRST TIME IN ASIA
http://www.ibff.org/index.cfm?pg=E0
http://www.asianbuddhistfilmfest.org/
Films from Nine Nations; Seven Singapore Premieres Opening Night Benefits Two Charities
“These films can change the way people see the world.”
The first International Buddhist Film Festival (IBFF) in Asia opens in Singapore, Thursday, May 17 for a four day run. Showcasing a diverse program with the theme “Medium of Reflection,” the 2007 IBFF features works from nine nations, with seven Singapore premieres.
The opening night film is the Singapore premiere of the award-winning Shower, by Zhang Yang, from China. A portion of the proceeds from the opening night program will benefit two Singapore charities, The PresidentÂ’s Challenge and ChildrenÂ’s Cancer Foundation, and the guest of honor is SingaporeÂ’s Minister for Health, Mr. Khaw Boon Wan.
Ranging from dramas and comedies to documentaries and animation, the IBFF includes the Singapore premiere of the recent AFI Festival Grand Jury Prize winner, BuddhaÂ’s Lost Children, a Dutch documentary filmed in Thailand about a former Thai boxer turned Buddhist monk who builds an orphanage, school and clinic--a haven for the children of that strife-ridden region.
Among the other Singapore premieres are rare screenings of Buddhist-themed episodes of international hit television shows The Simpsons and King of the Hill, along with films from China, Bhutan, India, Canada, England and the US. Several of the filmmakers are traveling to Singapore to be on hand for Q & A sessions following their films. A guest speaker, British-born monk Venerable Ajahn Brahm, will give a talk on Sunday, May 20.
Three films connected with noted Bhutan-born Tibetan lama Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche will be shown. Two dramatic features he directed, The Cup, and Travellers & Magicians, were filmed on location in India and Bhutan respectively. The third is the Singapore premiere of a documentary by Canadian Leslie Ann Patton, Words of My Perfect Teacher, which follows him from the World Cup in Europe all the way to Bhutan in search of a better understanding of the teacher-student relationship in Tibetan Buddhism.
The Asian premiere of renowned German director Doris Dörrie’s new feature-length documentary How to Cook Your Life will be screened on Sunday, May 20. This profile of San Francisco chef, author and Zen priest Edward Espe Brown explores principles of Zen Buddhism as they apply to the preparation of food as well as life itself. The award-winning Dörrie’s comedy Enlightenment Guaranteed, filmed on location in a Japanese Zen monastery, will be screened on May 19.
Rounding out the program is the Singapore premiere of Compassion In Exile, the award-winning portrait of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, filmed on location in India by Mickey Lemle.
The IBFF is presented by Singapore’s Asian Buddhist Film Festival (ABFF), a newly formed organization dedicated to this emerging cinema arena. “The festival has been organized to encourage fresh thinking through contemporary reflections on Buddhist ideas, using the internationally potent medium of film. We want to make these films, some of which are not readily available, more accessible to wider audiences,” said Bhavna Vedhara, executive director of ABFF.
The ABFF is in strategic partnership with Buddhist Film Society (BFS), the independent non-profit educational organization based in Oakland, California that founded the IBFF in 2000. BFSÂ’s Advisory Council includes Philip Glass, Lisa Lu, Richard Gere, Maxine Hong Kingston, Robert Thurman and Alice Walker. The Singapore IBFF comes after successful IBFF presentations in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and San Francisco in the US, and Amsterdam in Holland.
BFS, through its International Buddhist Film Festival and Festival Media distribution service, offers cinema as a vehicle for wider appreciation and better understanding of Buddhism by general audiences, particularly for the remarkable ethnic and cultural diversity evident among Buddhists worldwide today. “Many of the filmmakers aren’t Buddhists. They’re all artists exploring issues and ideas that are in alignment with any of the wisdom traditions that value compassion. These films can change the way people see the world,” said IBFF’s executive director, Gaetano Kazuo Maida, who will be attending.
Works are chosen through a combination of program committee invitations as well as through international Call For Entries solicitations. The films include English language or subtitled works from all over the world, and embrace a very broad and fluid definition of “Buddhist.”
Visit the ABFF website for more information about the IBFF program in Singapore, including screening schedule, locations and ticket sales. -
Synopsis of Movies:
1) THE CUP (1999)
Cast: Jamyang Lodro, Orgyen Tobgyal, Neten Chokling, Kunsang Nyima
Directed by: Khyentse Norbu
Run-time: 94 mins
Country: Bhutan/Australia
Genre: Comedy
Website: http://www.finelinefeatures.com/thecup/frameset.html
Buddhism is their philosophy. Soccer is their religion. A hit at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival, this sweet, engaging comedy is about a group of mischievous, soccer-obsessed child monks determined to smuggle a television set into their monastery so they can watch the World Cup. Featuring wonderful comic turns by a cast of actual monks from the monastery where the movie was shot, this film - the first ever produced in Bhutan - examines the tenets of Buddhism through gentle humour and the awe-inspiring beauty of Bhutan's landscape.
2) King of the Hill: Won't you Pimai My Neighbour? (2000)
Creator: Mike Judge
Producer: John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky
Run-time: 22 mins
Country: USA
Genre: Comedy
Website: http://www.fox.com/kingofthehill/
A long running animation success on FOX, Bobby is the son of Hank and Peggy Hill, just-folks Americans (often self referenced as "rednecks") living in the suburbs as the world changes rapidly around them. Immigration and contemporary culture challenge them and their friends at every turn. The show thrives on sharp satire and no subject is sacred or spared.
3) Shower (1999)
Cast: Zhu Xu, He Zheng, Pu Cun Xin, Zhang Jin Hao and Jiang Wu
Directed by: Zhang Yang
Run-time: 95 mins
Country: China
Genre: Drama
Website: http://www.sonypictures.com/classics/shower/index.html
Set in a neighborhood on the outskirts of modern Beijing, this is the tale of a prodigal son. The elder son returns to the place of his youth and his father's old age - an antique bathhouse that draws the neighborhood men to bathe, gossip, pit cricket fights, quarrel and sing. This is a deceptively simple film wearing the veneer of a family comedy but with real depth. A unique look at how the Buddhist spirit survived China's Cultural Revolution in the hearts of the stubborn and compassionate.
This film recently won Best Film and Best Director at the Seattle Film Festival.
4) Enlightenment Guaranteed (2000)
Cast: Uwe Ochsenknecht and Gustav-Peter Wohler
Directed by: Doris Dorrie
Run-time: 109 mins
Country: Germany
Genre: Comedy
Website: http://www.german-films.de/app/filmarchive/film_view.php?film_id=331
Having won the Bavarian Film Awards for Best Actor and Best Production in 2000, this delightful fish-out-of-water comedy follows two mismatched brothers - one an uptight family man whose wife just left him, and the other a naïve New Age enthusiast - traveling to Japan for a retreat at a Buddhist monastery. After a hilariously disastrous night in Tokyo leaves them broke, confused, and humiliated, the brothers accidentally find themselves fully prepared for their immersion in Buddhist spirituality. -
5) How to Cook Your Life (2006)
Directed by: Doris Dörrie
Run-time: 100 mins
Country: Germany
Genre: Documentary
Website: http://www.german-films.de/app/filmarchive/film_view.php?film_id=1537
An up beat documentary about the art of cooking, but also the art of cooking one's life without burning it, adding too much salt or over-cooking it. Together, Doris Dörrie and Zen priest of cookery, Edward Brown, demonstrate that food means much more than just nutrition and that cooking is a feast of the senses, as well as an act of love and generosity.
6) Buddha's Lost Children (2006)
Directed by: Mark Verkerk
Run-time: 97 mins
Country: Netherlands
Genre: Documentary
Website: http://www.buddhaslostchildren.com/index2.html
Buddha's Lost Children is a feature-length documentary film about a Thai Buddhist monk who - armed only with his faith and master boxer skills - wages an inspirational battle to help orphaned children, fight drug abuse, and preserve a vanishing way of life.
7) Words of My Perfect Teacher (2003)
Directed by: Lesley Ann Patten
Run-time: 101 mins
Country: Canada
Genre: Documentary
Website: http://www.wordsofmyperfectteacher.com/
Featuring appearances by Bernardo Bertolucci and Steven Seagal, this personal and revealing feature-length documentary is about soccer obsessed, charismatic filmmaker and citizen of the world - Bhutanese lama Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche (director of The Cup and Travellers & Magicians) from the perspective of three students; sheds an often comedic light on the student/teacher relationship, where the teacher in this case has a tendency to offer teasings rather than teachings, defies prediction and shatters the image of the serene sage.
Travellers & Magicians (2003)
Cast: Sonam Kinga, Deki Yangzom, Lhakpa Dorji, Tshewang Dendup, Sonam Kinga
Directed by: Khyentse Norbu
Run-time: 108 mins
Country: Bhutan
Genre: Drama
Website: http://www.travellersandmagicians.com/
Part road movie, part Bhutanese fable, this film is two stories - one earthly and one magical, played out against the backdrop of the Himalayas. Dondup is a civil servant posted in a small village who dreams of greener pastures. A series of events leaves him stranded on Bhutan's only highway with a mismatched group of fellow travelers. The mischievous monk in their midst entertains them with a mysterious fireside tale. The stories weave together down their respective paths lined with seduction, deception and dreams. This is the second film from Bhutan-born Tibetan lama Khyentse Norbu (The Cup).
9) The Simpsons: She of Little Faith (2001)
Creator: Matt Groening
Run-time: 22 mins
Country: USA
Genre: Animation
Website: http://thesimpsons.com/index.html
One of the key characters of the most popular animated television program in the USA - Lisa Simpson finds herself frustrated with the commercialization of Christmas and seeks an alternative spiritual path. She encounters a Buddhist monk along the way (voiced by Richard Gere) and makes a decision. -
Hard sales for master...
Charity related? -
Screening Schedule
17th May 2007 (Opening Night)
9.15pm @ Lido 1
18th May 2007
7.15pm @ Lido 3
9.30pm @ Lido 3
19th May 2007
4.30pm + @ Lido 3
7.00pm + @ Lido 3
9.30pm @ Lido 3
20th May 2007 (Closing Film)
2.45pm + Dharma Talk by Ajahn Brahm @ Lido 1 -
sorry can explain your question again?Originally posted by Thusness:Hard sales for master...
Charity related?
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Pricing
Opening Film $100.00 (Only for the film on the first night, for S'pore charities)
Closing Film + Talk by Ven. Ajahn Brahm $15.00
All other films $10.00
All the prices above are inclusive of 5% GST, but exclusive of SISTIC fees
SISTIC fee
$2.00 per ticket for ticket prices above $20
$1.00 per ticket for ticket prices $20 and below
Handling fee (for purchases made via Internet or hotline
Pick-up from SISTIC Authorised Agents $0.20 per transaction
Pick-up from Show Venue $1.00 per transaction
By ordinary mail $1.00
By registered mail $3.00
By courier $15.00
Hotline booking
Singapore - Call SISTIC 6348 5555
Malaysia 1800 806 129
Online booking
Via the links at www.sistic.com.sg
Click http://www.sistic.com.sg/cms/events/index.html?content=948 to purchase online.
SISTIC Authorised Agents
Alliance Francaise de Singapour
Bishan Junction 8
DBS Arts Centre Home of SRT
Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay
IMM Building
Jurong Point Shopping Centre
Lot 1 ShoppersÂ’ Mall
Millenia Walk
Novena Square Shopping Mall
Parco Bugis Junction
Parkway Parade Plaza Singapura
POP@Central (Bras Basah Complex)
Raffles City Shopping Centre
Singapore Conference Hall
SISTIC Box Office @ Singapore Indoor Stadium
Tampines Mall
Tiong Bahru Plaza
Victoria Concert Hall
Wisma Atria -
Originally posted by _wanderer_:sorry can explain your question again?
I did not read the content properly. It is charity related.
Films from Nine Nations; Seven Singapore Premieres Opening Night Benefits Two Charities
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For more information & to view more pictures, pls go to http://www.asianbuddhistfilmfest.org/index.php
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I think some people got scared by the $100.00 stated right in front.Originally posted by Thusness:I did not read the content properly. It is charity related.
Actually only the Opening Night is priced $100 - raising funds for Cancer Foundation and Presidents' Challenge.
All other films are only $10.
As for the closing film, together with Ajahn Brahm's talk, it costs $15. -
Wow.. nice So far I've only watched 'Words of My Perfect Teacher'.. nice movie
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interested to go watch ,but now no $Originally posted by _wanderer_:2007 INTERNATIONAL BUDDHIST FILM FESTIVAL DEBUTS IN SINGAPORE – FIRST TIME IN ASIA
http://www.ibff.org/index.cfm?pg=E0
http://www.asianbuddhistfilmfest.org/
Films from Nine Nations; Seven Singapore Premieres Opening Night Benefits Two Charities
“These films can change the way people see the world.”
The first International Buddhist Film Festival (IBFF) in Asia opens in Singapore, Thursday, May 17 for a four day run. Showcasing a diverse program with the theme “Medium of Reflection,” the 2007 IBFF features works from nine nations, with seven Singapore premieres.
The opening night film is the Singapore premiere of the award-winning Shower, by Zhang Yang, from China. A portion of the proceeds from the opening night program will benefit two Singapore charities, The PresidentÂ’s Challenge and ChildrenÂ’s Cancer Foundation, and the guest of honor is SingaporeÂ’s Minister for Health, Mr. Khaw Boon Wan.
Ranging from dramas and comedies to documentaries and animation, the IBFF includes the Singapore premiere of the recent AFI Festival Grand Jury Prize winner, BuddhaÂ’s Lost Children, a Dutch documentary filmed in Thailand about a former Thai boxer turned Buddhist monk who builds an orphanage, school and clinic--a haven for the children of that strife-ridden region.
Among the other Singapore premieres are rare screenings of Buddhist-themed episodes of international hit television shows The Simpsons and King of the Hill, along with films from China, Bhutan, India, Canada, England and the US. Several of the filmmakers are traveling to Singapore to be on hand for Q & A sessions following their films. A guest speaker, British-born monk Venerable Ajahn Brahm, will give a talk on Sunday, May 20.
Three films connected with noted Bhutan-born Tibetan lama Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche will be shown. Two dramatic features he directed, The Cup, and Travellers & Magicians, were filmed on location in India and Bhutan respectively. The third is the Singapore premiere of a documentary by Canadian Leslie Ann Patton, Words of My Perfect Teacher, which follows him from the World Cup in Europe all the way to Bhutan in search of a better understanding of the teacher-student relationship in Tibetan Buddhism.
The Asian premiere of renowned German director Doris Dörrie’s new feature-length documentary How to Cook Your Life will be screened on Sunday, May 20. This profile of San Francisco chef, author and Zen priest Edward Espe Brown explores principles of Zen Buddhism as they apply to the preparation of food as well as life itself. The award-winning Dörrie’s comedy Enlightenment Guaranteed, filmed on location in a Japanese Zen monastery, will be screened on May 19.
Rounding out the program is the Singapore premiere of Compassion In Exile, the award-winning portrait of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, filmed on location in India by Mickey Lemle.
The IBFF is presented by Singapore’s Asian Buddhist Film Festival (ABFF), a newly formed organization dedicated to this emerging cinema arena. “The festival has been organized to encourage fresh thinking through contemporary reflections on Buddhist ideas, using the internationally potent medium of film. We want to make these films, some of which are not readily available, more accessible to wider audiences,” said Bhavna Vedhara, executive director of ABFF.
The ABFF is in strategic partnership with Buddhist Film Society (BFS), the independent non-profit educational organization based in Oakland, California that founded the IBFF in 2000. BFSÂ’s Advisory Council includes Philip Glass, Lisa Lu, Richard Gere, Maxine Hong Kingston, Robert Thurman and Alice Walker. The Singapore IBFF comes after successful IBFF presentations in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and San Francisco in the US, and Amsterdam in Holland.
BFS, through its International Buddhist Film Festival and Festival Media distribution service, offers cinema as a vehicle for wider appreciation and better understanding of Buddhism by general audiences, particularly for the remarkable ethnic and cultural diversity evident among Buddhists worldwide today. “Many of the filmmakers aren’t Buddhists. They’re all artists exploring issues and ideas that are in alignment with any of the wisdom traditions that value compassion. These films can change the way people see the world,” said IBFF’s executive director, Gaetano Kazuo Maida, who will be attending.
Works are chosen through a combination of program committee invitations as well as through international Call For Entries solicitations. The films include English language or subtitled works from all over the world, and embrace a very broad and fluid definition of “Buddhist.”
Visit the ABFF website for more information about the IBFF program in Singapore, including screening schedule, locations and ticket sales.
maybe will go to make Bodhi vow in future set up a Buddhist Movie Hall
for Asia Pacific Buddhist Congregation
Om Ah Hung -
Yea I like that film ery much heheOriginally posted by An Eternal Now:Wow.. nice So far I've only watched 'Words of My Perfect Teacher'.. nice movie 
This time I'm also interested to watch "Buddha's Lost Children" I heard it's a very good film.
And many other good films are featured too! -
Icic.. CoolOriginally posted by _wanderer_:Yea I like that film ery much hehe
This time I'm also interested to watch "Buddha's Lost Children" I heard it's a very good film.
And many other good films are featured too!