IBFF announces its 2023 Official Selections and the schedule for its Spotlight Series at the Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael, California. Featuring films from China, India, the U.S., and Russia, and including a special event for the Dalai Lama’s 88th birthday, this series will introduce audiences to new filmmakers, almost all women, and some very special guests.
The IBFF 2023 Official Selections are Ganden, by Ngawang Choephel (April 30), an intimate and emotional profile of the largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery, once in Tibet and now in India, and its thousands of monks; Geshe Wangyal, by Ella Manzheeva (May 21), profiles the late Tibetan Buddhist lama, a Kalmyk, who founded the first center here, in New Jersey, and famously was the teacher of Tibet House founder Robert Thurman, who will join the director for the screening; Into the Night, by Helen Whitney (June 18), explores the contemporary approach to end of life care and consciousness, including with Zen Buddhist attentions; The Great Fourteenth, by Rosemary Rawcliffe (July 9), a unique profile of the 14th Dalai Lama, narrated by him and featuring rare archival footage from his family’s private collection, screened as an 88th birthday salute to His Holiness; and Dark Red Forest, by Jin Huaqing (September 17) which reveals the extraordinary hidden world of the largest Tibetan Buddhist nunnery in China.
“The IBFF was never a same-time, same-place annual event, and for 2023 we’ve decided to spread out the screenings through the year, giving us the opportunity to really shine a light on each film,” said IBFF Executive Director Gaetano Kazuo Maida. He adds, “Last year’s remarkable Academy Award® nomination for IBFF 2020 Official Selection Lunana—A Yak in the Classroom, brought renewed attention to the Himalayas and its people, and this year’s selections expand our views of that culture, even as it evolves and spreads.”
All the films’ directors are expected to attend, and several special guests have been invited to participate in post-screening conversations and questions from the audience. A detailed schedule and a list of confirmed guests will be announced soon.
The series is a co-presentation of Buddhist Film Foundation and California Film Institute. The nonprofit California Film Institute (CAFILM) celebrates and promotes film as art and education through year-round programming at the nonprofit independent Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center, presentation of the acclaimed Mill Valley Film Festival and DocLands Documentary Film Festival, and cultivation of the next generation of filmmakers and film lovers through CAFILM Education programs.
