The International Buddhist Film Festival’s return to London completed a successful five day run at the Apollo Piccadilly Circus Theatre in central London, presenting thirteen films from ten nations, nine of which were UK or European premieres, with eight guest presenters in person. There were many sold-out screenings, excellent media coverage, and enthusiastic audience participation in after-film discussions.
IBFF 2012 LONDON was sponsored by the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation in conjunction with the Buddhist Art Forum held concurrently at the Courtauld Institute of Art, which they also sponsored.
Highlights from IBFF 2012 LONDON include: Mindfulness and Murder (Thailand), which sold out and a second screen added also sold out; director Tom Waller and producer Michael Pritchett were joined onstage by the film’s composer Olivier Liboutry, a surprise guest from Paris. Crazy Wisdom (USA) also sold out two screens and prompted a US-style rush line out the door of attendees hopeful of no-shows. A late program change brought the UK premiere of the legendary comedy Hi Dharma! (Korea).
BBC journalist and Burma activist Nita May, one of the interviewees in Aung San Suu Kyi: Lady of No Fear (Denmark), came to introduce the SPOTLIGHT ON BURMA program which included Into the Current (Burma/Thailand/USA), and stayed to take questions from the audience for over an hour. Filmmaker Jennifer Fox presented her My Reincarnation (Italy/USA) and was joined onstage for questions after the screening by executive producer Babeth VanLoo, who is the program director of BOS-TV the Buddhist television channel in Holland. The co-directors of KanZeOn (Japan/UK) Neil Cantwell and Tim Grabham held an enthusiastic audience for over a half hour after the screening of their masterful exploration of image and sound from Japanese Buddhist communities.
Next up: IBFF 2012 BANGKOK, June 6–10…
