Set in the 16^th century ‘Age of Civil War’, Flower and Sword follows the tribulations of a monk as he works with flowers to bring peace to the land. Senko Ikenobo is one of the ‘flower monks’ of Rokkakudo Temple.  Due to his exceptional skills in Ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arrangement, Senko is unwillingly thrusted into the limelight as he attempts to pacify the murderous tendencies of warlords during this strife-filled war-torn period of medieval Japan.

Karma portrays 19-year-old Sun, who becomes a fugitive after he ran over a girl in an accident. To escape the law, he unwillingly ordains as a novice in a remote north-eastern forest monastery without real faith. On the night after his ordination, he steps on the offering to the hungry ghost and the act brings him to a confrontation with a hungry ghost who comes to ask for the merit that was lost because of his action. In the meantime, he is also haunted by the ghost of the girl who died in the accident.

Detective Kinley is sent to a remote region of Bhutan to investigate the disappearance of a Buddhist nun. He goes undercover and enters a risky alliance with his only suspect, a mysterious and alluring young woman named Choden, known to the villagers as a demoness. As Choden draws Kinley into her world, his supervisor takes him off the case, sending Kinley spiralling into delirium and nightmares. Honeygiver Among the Dogs is the debut feature by Bhutanese director Dechen Roder, one of the Himalayan nation’s few female directors. Her film merges spirituality and tradition with the classic hallmarks of the film noir genre.

“Hygge” has exploded in popularity amidst growing division and distrust around the world, but the Danish word and its definition are more complicated than it seems. For those who seek happiness, this exploratory documentary travels around the globe to discover the true meaning of “hygge” and how to find it.

Set in a beautiful Himalayan valley, it’s a journey of a neglected and abandoned mute boy, who loses his mother at birth and is furiously neglected by his father. When his father goes behind bars, the boy stares at a lonely and deserted life ahead. His relationship with an elderly Buddhist monk helps him to detach from his voiceless suffering and to explore the bond that each creation shares with nature. With nowhere to go, he joins a Buddhist monastery even as he fights an inner battle of unrequited love.

Set at an ancient nunnery above the majestic Irrawaddy River, A Thousand Mothers is an unprecedented look into the lives of Buddhist nuns in Sagaing, Myanmar, an ancient religious region with one of the largest concentrations of monasticism in the world.  While the choices available to girls and women in Myanmar are quite limited, the film poetically unfolds to reveal unexpected opportunity and beauty as young orphans find a refuge, an education, and a healthy environment with older nuns who have dedicated their lives to service with the wit and wisdom required to live outside the pull of their rapidly modernising culture.

为拉达克的第一位安尼藏医。亦有住在山洞十年的老安尼多玛慈仁，讲述她们学习佛法的生活和故事。本片也纪录了小安尼秋田多玛十八岁时即成为小主持的欢乐与眼泪。更有德烈汪莫从西藏家乡一路磕长头花了一年多的时间费尽千辛万苦到印度学习佛法，经过十七年的苦读成为西藏第一批女格西（佛学博士）的故事。

Tsunma, an honorific term connoting “noble, delicate, and pure”, refers to the Tibetan Buddhist Nuns of the Himalayan Region who have been largely dismissed or forgotten by the traditions they follow and the societies they’ve served. Taiwanese photographer Lin Li-Fang undertook a solo journey up 4,270 meters into the Himalayan Plateau and lived for an entire summer with some of these nuns and recorded life in the unforgiving environment dubbed “The Roof of the World”. There, Li-Fang captured a life devoted to hope and faith and a people possessing a unique kind of tolerance, humility,
and perseverance.

We are pleased to announce that we are doing an additional screening for A Thousand Mothers + Tsunma Tsunma due to overwhelming response. Tickets for this special screening will only be available via email. Interested parties, please email sales@thisfilmfest.com to register your interest.

We will email you confirmation and information on ticket collection. Kindly note the following:

Date and Time: 23 September 2018 (Sunday) 4.15pm
Venue: Shaw Theatres Lido Hall 5
Ticket Price: $13 each (inclusive of $1 handling fee)
Seating: Allocated by system. No selection allowed
Ticket collection: Details will be provided via email

Note:
*There will be no post screening dialogue for this screening
** Tickets are available on first come first served basis and subject to availability.

One Mind is a rare cinematic portrait of life inside one of China’s most austere and revered Chan Buddhism communities. The monks at Zhenru Chan Monastery continue to uphold a strict monastic code established over 1,400 years ago by the founding patriarchs of Chan Buddhism in China. In harmony with the land that sustains them, the monks operate an organic farm, grow tea, and harvest bamboo to fuel their kitchen fires. At the heart of this community, a group of cloistered meditators sit in silence for 8 hours every day. One Mind offers an intimate glimpse into a thriving Buddhist monastery in modern China.

Set in the 16^th century ‘Age of Civil War’, Flower and Sword follows the tribulations of a monk as he works with flowers to bring peace to the land. Senko Ikenobo is one of the ‘flower monks’ of Rokkakudo Temple.  Due to his exceptional skills in Ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arrangement, Senko is unwillingly thrusted into the limelight as he attempts to pacify the murderous tendencies of warlords during this strife-filled war-torn period of medieval Japan.

The coming of age and a heart-warming tale of a young Rinpoche’s reincarnation and journey home.

Padma Angdu’s world turns upside down when the monastery where he belonged to expels him. He is recognised as a ‘Living Buddha’ in Ladakh, and the only thing that holds him together is the unfaltering love of his teacher. High expectations from his community leads the young Rinpoche into rebellion as he enters into adolescence. After having waited years in vain for his disciples from Tibet, the soon-to-be teenage Rinpoche and his aging teacher embark on an epic journey towards Tibet, in search of an answer.

How much would you sacrifice to fight for what you believe in?

A Cambodian Spring is an intimate and unique portrait of three people caught up in the chaotic and often violent development that is shaping modern-day Cambodia. Shot over six years, the film charts the growing wave of land-rights protests that led to the ‘Cambodian Spring’ and the tragic events that followed. This film is about the complexities – both political and personal, of fighting for what you believe in.

Shot by more than 40 filmmaking teams around the world, Sacred immerses viewers in the daily use of faith and spiritual practice. At a time when religious hatred dominates the world’s headlines, this film explores faith as a primary human experience, and how people turn to ritual and prayer to navigate the milestones and crises of private life. The film’s director commissioned or sourced footage from top independent filmmakers from more than 25 countries — and a wide range of religious traditions — each team contributing a single scene.

After discovering a sacred stone in the mouth of a deer he just killed, Tabei, a young lonesome Tibetan cowboy, embarks on a long and difficult mission: to bring it back to the holy mountain of Buddha’s handprint. His journey turns sour as an obstinate woman, Qiong, and a psychic yet dumb elf, Pu, soon decide to join him. This is in addition to the two violent brothers on his tail, who are on a revenge quest.

The Last Dalai Lama? takes a fresh look at what is important for the 14th Dalai Lama at age 82: the historical confrontation between Tibet and China; his influence in political, spiritual, and educational spheres; and his personal feelings on aging, dying and whether he will be the last Dalai Lama. The film artfully weaves archival and contemporary footage from Lemle’s ground-breaking Compassion in Exile: The Story of The 14th Dalai Lama (1992); intimate interviews with His Holiness, shot 25 years apart; and interviews with his family and the westerners he’s inspired since his exile from Tibet in 1959. The film is enhanced by a beautiful original music score composed and performed by Philip Glass and Tibetan musician, Tenzin Choegyal.

As the dust was still settling after WWII and the Cold War divided the world, the mysterious and impenetrable mountain kingdom of Tibet sent out a plea to help stop the communist forces of China from invading their country. They chose the most well-known newsman of his day to document their plight, hoping to garner international support to protect their borders from the Red Army. Lowell Thomas, along with his son, became only the seventh and eighth Westerners invited to walk through the Western Gate of Lhasa.  Meeting the 15-year-old Dalai Lama was an adventure of a lifetime for them, and the start of a relationship between His Holiness and the Thomas family that has now spanned three generations.

Out of this World is a digitised and re-released version of an original film print from the 1950’s by Lowell Thomas, which will include new scenes and information, as well as photographs from the original trip and those from our 2016 expedition.