Tricycle|BuddhaFest 2020 Online Film Festival Runs June 22–August 16

This year’s Tricycle|BuddhaFest Online Festival includes seven films selected by International Buddhist Film Festival (IBFF), several of which are premieres. The Online Festival, which is celebrating BuddhaFest’s tenth anniversary, features many talks, music, and meditation videos, and runs June 22–August 16, 2020.

Registration is available at BuddhaFest Online, along with with full film descriptions and links to trailers.

The films selected by IBFF are from four different countries, and touch on Buddhist traditions from Tibet, Japan, China, Bhutan, India, and the US. Among these are two world premieres and three North American premieres. Zoom interviews with the filmmakers were conducted by BFF executive director Gaetano Kazuo Maida.
 

IBFF FILM PROGRAM AT TRICYCLE | BUDDHAFEST 2020 ONLINE FESTIVAL

Bön and the West
Directed by Andrea Heckman
USA / 91 min
WORLD PREMIERE

[various monastery buildings colored white and red sit nestled at the base of a mountainous and snowy landscape]Featuring Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, this film is a concise introduction to the oldest tradition in Tibetan Buddhism. Filmed on location in Poland, Mexico, Dolpo (India), and Virginia.
 
 
 
 

The Geshema Is Born
Directed by Malati Rao
India / 60 min
WORLD PREMIERE

[group of tibetan nuns with shaved heads in gold and maroon robes, some with eyeglasses, sit listening]A portrait of the Tibetan Buddhist nuns who make up the historic first graduating class of nuns to achieve the Geshe degree. This film features a nuanced interview with His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.
 
 
 
 

Music Monks
Directed by Qiaoli Wang
China / 79 min
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

[cropped image of older asian man with shaved head, long eyebrows, and bright orange robe, holding large brass cymbal in each hand]Filmed on location at Xiangguo Temple in China, this is the home of the unique tradition of Buddhist monks maintaining ancient musical practices.
 
 
 
 
 

Precious Guru
Directed by Marc Wennberg
USA / 60 min

[close up of moustached gold buddha statue head with colored crown and gesturing hand, wrapped in white cloth amidst colorful background]A vivid portrait of the life, times, and legacy of “the second Buddha,” Padmasambhava, the 8th century Indian yogi who carried Buddhism over the Himalayas into Tibet. Filmed on location in India and Nepal.
 
 
 
 

Refuge
Directed by John DiLeva Halpern
USA / 60 min

[hh the 14th dalai lama with shaved head, glasses, and red and gold robes, sits against a background of art, smiling while talking]This film spans the past three decades of Buddhism’s contribution to the West, featuring rare, in-depth interviews with dharma teachers and film luminaries. Filmed in India, Nepal, Tibet, Switzerland, France, Canada, and the US.
 
 
 

Visions of a Teacher
Directed by Jaap Verhoeven
Netherlands / 60 min
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

[asian man with blue baseball cap, maroon t-shirt, talks to camera on a street in a dusty town with prayer flags overhead]Filmed on location in Nepal with film director and Tibetan Buddhist teacher Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche (Khyentse Norbu) and noted cinematographer Ping Bin Lee, this film brings us on the set of his latest feature, Looking for a Lady with Fangs and a Moustache.
 
 

Zen and the West
Directed by Luke Fitch
USA / 84 min
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

[asian man in long sleeved black robes sits cross legged, with eyes closed and hands clasped, in a Japanese room with shoji and sliding doors]Featuring Kaz Tanahashi, Joan Halifax, Bernie Glassman (in his last interview before his death), and Henry Shukman, this film goes deep into the Sanbo Zen lineage (Yamada, Yasutani, Kapleau) with a focus on Ryoun Roshi. Narrated and with an appearance by Jeremy Irons.
 
 

 
The Tricycle | BuddhaFest Online Festival streams June 22–August 16, and is open for registration now at www.buddhafestonline.com, with full film descriptions and links to trailers.