The 12th annual Buddhist Film Festival in Europe (BFFE) takes place at the EYE Filmmuseum in Amsterdam, Holland, September 29–October 1, 2017. Submissions are now closed and the full program will be announced in September.
BFFE is an independent nonprofit foundation, a unique international platform for films with contemplative content, particularly documentaries, feature films, and experimental works that are inspired or influenced by Buddhism. Films are offered to a broad audience, and the archive is a resource for educational purposes and research. BFFE grew out of the International Buddhist Film Festival (IBFF) presentation in Amsterdam in 2006, and has been independently produced there annually ever since; the two festivals continue to cooperate on programming.
The mission of BFFE is to inform and empower people using films that contain knowledge about the core values in Buddhism such as non-violence, interdependence, and the practice of mindfulness and compassion.
The films exhibited are chosen upon invitation as well as through submission by filmmakers. Most of them are in English or with English subtitles. Many of the programs have never been shown in Europe or in the Netherlands before, or have never even been shown outside their home countries. They represent the ethnic and cultural diversity now happening in the Buddhist arena worldwide.
The EYE Filmmuseum is Holland’s national museum for film, located on Amsterdam’s IJ harbor. It manages a collection of more than 40,000 films from all genres. Visitors are welcome in four cinemas, an exhibition space, a floor dedicated to educational activities, a store, and a bar-restaurant. EYE was founded in 2010 as a result of the merger between four organizations: the Filmmuseum, Holland Film, the Filmbank, and the Netherlands Institute for Film Education.
