A THOUSAND MOTHERS

{Singapore Premiere}

SUN 23 SEP | 4:00pm

USA 2017
36 mins
PG
Burmese with English subtitles
Directed by Kim Shelton

 

Synopsis

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.

 

Director’s Bio

Kim Shelton has been making award-winning documentary films for over 30 years. Her tastes are eclectic and she has covered a very wide range of subjects from cowboys to Sudanese refugees, war veterans and now, Buddhist nuns.  Her films, A Great Wonder, Cowboy Poets, The Highly Exalted, Lost Borders and The Welcome, among others, have won numerous film festival awards, and have been broadcast internationally on POV, PBS, National Geographic, The Discovery Channel and the BBC.

 

Director’s Statement

On a Buddhist retreat in Myanmar, I met a young nun. Each morning we quietly walked the monastery gardens, holding hands. I wondered, “who are these women with shaved heads and pink robes?” In making this film, I was deeply moved to discover “a thousand mothers,” a remarkable community of women, living a life of service, kindness, and generosity. May they be an inspiration to you too.

 

 

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.

 

 


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SOUND OF SILENCE

{Singapore Premiere}

SUN 23 SEP | 1:30pm

INDIA 2017
89 mins
PG
Pahari, Hindi & Tibetan with English subtitles
Directed by Bijukumar Damodaran (Dr. Biju)

 

Synopsis

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.

 

Director’s Bio

Dr. Biju (Bijukumar Damodaran) is an Indian filmmaker who has won India’s top film award, The National Film Award, three times. His films were widely screened at many international films festivals like Cannes, Montreal, Shanghai, Cairo, New York, Telluride, Tehran, Jeonju etc. Sound of Silence is his eighth film as writer director.

 

Director’s Statement

The film was shot in a beautiful Himalayan village in Himachal Pradesh – a remote place inaccessible by road. The story is about the inner conflicts of a boy who could not speak. The film is set in two backdrops. The first part is set in a beautiful rural Himalayan village, and the other, in a tranquil Buddhist monastery. Most of the characters in the film were selected from the village and they had no prior acting experience. The film is like a stream, in a calm meditative mood with stunning magical visuals of beautiful landscapes and haunting sounds of nature and
Buddhist chanting.

 


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FINDING HYGGE

{Singapore Premiere}

SUN 23 SEP | 11:00am

Denmark 2018
90 mins
PG13
Consumer Advice: Some coarse language
English with no subtitle
Directed by Rocky Walls

 

Synopsis

“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.

 

Director’s Bio

Rocky Walls makes his directorial debut with the documentary feature film Finding Hygge. The co-founder of 12 Stars Media, a video production company focused on telling stories that help make the world a better place, Walls led his team on a mission to discover what role “hygge” plays in making Denmark one of the happiest countries on the planet.

 

 


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HONEYGIVER AMONG THE DOGS

{Singapore Premiere}

SAT 22 SEP | 6:30pm*

BHUTAN 2016
132 mins
PG
Dzongkha with English subtitles
Directed by Dechen Roder

*There will be a post-screening  discussion with the film director

Synopsis

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.

Director’s Bio

Dechen Roder is one of the first female directors from the Kingdom of Bhutan. She has been making small shorts and documentaries since 2005. Her most recent short film “Lo Sum Choe Sum” (or “3 Year 3 Month Retreat”) competed in the Berlinale Shorts 2015, and later screened in multiple festivals around the world, including Palm Springs Short Fest, Melbourne, Fribourg, and Seoul International Women’s Film Festival. She is also the co-founder and organiser of the only film festival in Bhutan- Beskop Tshechu Film Festival.

Director’s Statement

Growing up as a young girl in Bhutan, my mother told me stories of dakinis. But I was lucky. For the most part, in modern Bhutan, dakini stories don’t float around so much anymore, as the male lens ironically becomes stronger when it comes to stories of our past.

When I actually met a woman who had the dakini essence, it was the first time that I realised the dakini stories are more than just paintings on temple walls or in old texts. They are real life stories of female strength, bravery, compassion and wisdom. Remembering and recognising the dakini becomes more and more important. For us as Bhutanese, as women, and as humans.

*There will be a post-screening  discussion with the film director


This film is supported by
drukair

 



 


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KARMA

{Singapore Premiere}

SAT 22 SEP | 3:45pm

THAILAND 2015
82 mins
PG13
Consumer Advice: Horror
Thai with English subtitles
Directed by Kanitta Kwanyoo

Synopsis

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.

 

Director’s Bio

Kanitta Kwanyoo studied broadcasting and films in Bangkok University. She has directed a number of short films and music videos. Kanittha started her first short film in 2007 called Time…Love which won the 2nd place for Popular Vote in Short Thai Film Festival by Thai Film Foundation and was also presented in many short films festivals. Time…Love was also selected to be in 1 of 11 films presented in International Award Winning Thai Films 2010.

 

Director’s Statement

My intention is to explain what sins, merits, and moral conscience are. All of these are abstract concepts we learn in Buddhism class – which are also present inside each and every one of us. It is important that we are aware of the decisions we make and the actions we take. I want the audience to first understand the characters, after which I believe they will then understand the underlying concepts. I wish the audience would view this film as a Dharma lesson. We all make mistakes, and it is up to us whether we want to do something to salvage the mistake.

 


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FLOWER AND SWORD 花戦さ

Opening Film
{Singapore Premiere}

SAT 22 SEP | 12:30pm
WED 26 SEP | 6:45pm

Japan 2017
127 mins
PG
Japanese with English subtitles
Directed by Tetsuo Shinohara

 

Synopsis

Set in the 16th 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.

Spanning decades in its narration, Flower and Sword is a rare film on the art of Ikebana and features famous Kyogen actor Mansai Nomura and many other established Japanese actors. The film expounds on the Buddhist values of non-violence, even amidst tyranny, and mindfulness as Senko digs deep into his heart and wisdom to save himself and his compatriots during these
difficult times.

 

Director’s Bio

Born in 1962 in Tokyo, Tetsuo Shinohara worked as an assistant to directors such as Yoshimitsu Morita and Shusuke Kaneko before making his own debut as a director in 1996 with One More Time, One More Chance. His films include First Love, Heaven’s Bookstore, Breathe in, Breathe Out, Riding on the Metro, Yamazakura, Battle under Orion, At River’s Edge, Sweet Heart Chocolate, A Sower of Seeds 2, and Terminal.

 

Director’s Statement

The art of ikebana flower arranging, now practiced around the world, has its origins in the 6th century, with the decoration of altars for the newly arrived religion of Buddhism. By the 15th century it had become firmly established in Japanese culture. This is the first motion picture to incorporate ikebana to this degree. Enlisting the cooperation of the Ikenobo flower arranging school, the film features some 200 arrangements in the oldest type of ikebana, the rikka or ‘standing flower’ style.

Ikebana is a prayer for both tranquility in the world and the happiness of the people in it, designed to bring a smile of optimism to all who see it.

 

 


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