The 9th Annual Buddhist Film Festival Europe (BFFE) opens October 3, 2014 in Amsterdam for a three day run with the theme of “The Bardo of Transformation.” Twenty-two works will be presented at the Eye Film Institute along with an exhibition of works by artist Madelon Hooykaas, “Revealing the Invisible.”
Highlights include the opening night presentation of Vara, by Khyentse Norbu (The Cup), The American Rimpoche, by Nikki Appino, Monk With a Camera, by Guido Santi and Tina Mascara, A Sense of Urgency: A Portrait of Joan Halifax, by Pat van Boeckel, Zen and the Art of Peacemaking—Kazuaki Tanahashi, by Babeth VanLoo, and a work-in-progress presentation of BFF-sponsored Waking Buddha, by John Halpern.
BFFE is directed by founder Babeth VanLoo, who initiated the only Buddhist public broadcaster in the West, BOS, in Amsterdam, and is produced by Sarah Payton. The first BFFE was a copresentation with BFF, in 2004. About this year’s BFFE Ms. VanLoo says, “We come together to expand our vision, to inspire, and hopefully find some tools to engage with the world around us with renewed energy and compassion; by encountering people with different opinions, by listening, by the true practice of inter-being.”
