This year’s BuddhaFest Online Festival presented by Tricycle (June 20–August 14, 2022) features a dozen wisdom talks and includes ten films programmed by the International Buddhist Film Festival: five recent films plus a five film tribute to Thich Nhat Hanh.
The film tribute to Thich Nhat Hanh follows his death in Vietnam at age 96 this past January. Thây, as he was widely known, came to prominence during the Vietnam War when he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Dr. Martin Luther King, jr. He was instrumental in bringing forth a renewed sense of engagement/integration of Buddhist practice and society. His remarkable output included over one hundred books translated into dozens of languages, and the creation of numerous monasteries and practice centers all over the world. BFF executive director Gaetano Kazuo Maida produced and directed the first film profile of Thây, Peace Is Every Step, narrated by Ben Kingsley, which is included along with his Touching Peace, which documents an important public talk Thây gave to an audience of over 3,500. Other films in the tribute are Walk with Me, by Marc J. Francis and Max Pugh, narrated by Benedict Cumberbatch; My Life Is My Message, by George Schouten; and Dear Earth, by Wouter Verhoeven.
The lineup of the feature films, all presented in recent International Buddhist Film Festival events is: Descending the Mountain, by Maartje Nevejan (The Netherlands); Lopon, by Everardo Gonzales (Mexico); Buster Williams: Bass to Infinity, by Adam Kahan (USA); The Mountain Path, by Edward Burger (USA/China); and Saffron Heart, by Paul McLay (Russia).
BuddhaFest, now in its twelfth year, began in Washington, DC, and moved to Los Angeles after five years. Normally a live, in-theater event, it pivoted to online streaming due to the pandemic and has reached thousands more people as a result. The International Buddhist Film Festival has programmed the film component of all the BuddhaFests since the beginning.
BuddhaFest Online official website.
