The International Buddhist Film Festival 2013 Showcase will be presented by Buddhist Film Foundation and California Film Institute March 1–3 at the Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael. Additional screenings will take place in San Francisco at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, March 9–10. There’s a total of 10 titles, 9 premieres, 7 nations represented, with several special guest filmmakers and presenters. Here’s the complete schedule.
Highlights include:
- the opening night West Coast Premiere of the new feature documentary When The Iron Bird Flies, with director Victress Hitchcock and Tibetan Buddhist teacher Anam Thubten in person
- the Bay Area Premiere of Cannes Grand Prix-winner The Mourning Forest by noted Japanese artist/filmmaker Naomi Kawase
- the US Premiere of Thai filmmaker Tom Waller’s mystery Mindfulness and Murder
- the West Coast Premiere of Digital Dharma, about E. Gene Smith, with filmmaker Dafna Yachin in person
- the US premiere of Thangka, a dramatic feature from China
Confirmed guests include Anam Thubten and filmmakers Victress Hitchcock, Dafna Yachin, Neil Cantwell, John Haptas and Kristine Samuelson. Other screenings include the US Premieres of Olo, The Boy From Tibet, a doc from Japan; Karma, a dramatic feature from Nepal, and The Great Pilgrim, a docudrama from China; plus the West Coast Premiere of KanZeOn, a music-filled hybrid from the UK, and a special presentation of the documentary Tokyo Waka, with Bay Area filmmakers John Haptas and Kristine Samuelson in person.
Buddhist Film Foundation is the world’s leading resource for Buddhist cinema, and after a string of successful IBFF presentations overseas—London (2009), Mexico City (2008), Singapore (2007) and Amsterdam (2006)—the festival returns to the Bay Area.
The Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center has been a cultural landmark in downtown San Rafael since the early 20th century. Now owned and operated by the nonprofit California Film Institute (which produces the Mill Valley Film Festival), this beautifully restored Art Deco theater with three screens and state-of-the-art presentation is located just north of San Francisco.
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts presents contemporary art from the Bay Area and around the world. YBCA’s two landmark buildings in San Francisco’s Museum District include galleries, a flexible Forum space and screening room.
