The first in-theater International Buddhist Film Festival (IBFF) in over two years just completed a four-day run. IBFF screened nine premieres from seven countries at the Smith Rafael Film Center near San Francisco, California, December 9–12.
Filmmakers from The Netherlands, New York, Los Angeles, and Arizona made their ways to San Rafael to participate in the program, and others, from Bhutan, India, The Netherlands, and New Zealand, appeared via Zoom. Specials guests, including Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, featured film subject Noah Levine, and author Don Lattin, joined us for post-screening interviews and Q&As.
The rich and varied program presented three dramatic features, six feature documentaries, and a music video, all touching on a Buddhist subject or setting. Locations included a Zen monastery in Switzerland, the jazz world of New York, the Zhongnan mountains of China, the hill town of Darjeeling, the Dordogne region of France, the Drepung Monastery in India, the addiction treatment world of Los Angeles, the most remote village in Bhutan, and the network of Bön centers from Nepal to Finland, Poland, France, and Mexico.
The complete program guide is online and videos of the Zoom conversations with filmmakers will be posted on that page. All these films are just beginning their journeys to audiences; we will be tracking them and will update information about any new availabilities as they come up.
We owe a big thank you to our presenting partner, California Film Institute, and to the wonderful, enthusiastic, audiences that braved pandemic and rain to attend.
