Solidarity
Screening
FIRE UNDER THE
SNOW
Makoto Sasa/ 75 min.| English
(followed by discussion with Tenzing Sonam and Ritu Sarin and some Tibetan friends in exile)
Date: 2nd
February, 2013 (Saturday)
Time: 4:30 - 6:30 pm
Venue: S-35, Tara
Apartments, Alaknanda, New Delhi, 110019
About the film
Palden Gyatso, a Buddhist monk since childhood, was arrested
by the Chinese Communist Army in 1959. He spent the next 33 years in prison.
This film reaches back to Palden's birth in 1933 and follows him through the
Orwellian nightmare that began with the Chinese invasion. We cut back and forth
between his past and present as an activist, living in exile. We explore the
escalating cycle of interrogation and physical violation during his years in
prison that ended decades later with Palden's escape from Tibet and a cathartic
meeting with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The film also investigates the basis
of Palden's resilience. He claims that faith in Buddhism helped him survive and
insists that he is not angry with the Chinese, but that these atrocities befell
him due to "karma." While imprisoned, the mere existence of the Dalai
Lama was a beacon of hope to Palden and fellow prisoners-of-conscience. They
dreamed of being released from their torment and delivered into his open arms.
Today, the Dalai Lama and his supporters advance the idea of a "mutually
beneficial" autonomy within China, an idea generated from Buddhist
philosophy. At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, we filmed the entirety of
Palden's participation in a hunger strike. Using this highly publicized and
symbolic event, an attempt is made to draw public attention to Beijing's
hosting of the 2008 Olympics. Fire Under the Snow reveals the contours of an
inspirational story: the survival of a mind and a soul under unthinkable
duress.
About the Film maker
Makoto Sasa was born in 1973 in Tokyo. In her childhood, she
was captivated by the images of Tibetan monks and the Himalayan mountains on
TV, and Tibet has affected her ever since. She studied Media at Keio University
in Japan, then moved to New York City in 1998. After receiving a M.A. in Media
Studies from The New School University, she made several short documentaries,
worked as an assistant editor for Going Under (2004), Love (2005), and The
City (2007). She was the editor and associate producer for a feature
documentary about a Japanese photographer, which won the Best Editing Award at
the Honolulu International Film Festival, and the Audience Award at the
Brooklyn International Film Festival. In 2005, the influence of Tibetan
Buddhism and Palden Gyatso's story began to harmonize during her most difficult
days in NYC. She then embarked on her own feature documentary, "Fire Under
the Snow".
About the Kriti Film Club:
This is an
educational and research oriented initiative of Kriti: a development research,
praxis and communication team, screening documentaries since the year 2000.We
offer an independently financed and informal space for screening documentary
films on a whole range of social, development, human rights & environment
issues. The whole idea of the KRITI Film Club is to place thought- provoking
cinema in a discussion group that will help to deepen understanding on these
issues amongst viewers and film makers. We also serve as a borrowing and distribution
space for documentary films from India and abroad.
Open for all, confirmations
appreciated. You are welcome to have some chai-shai at our ecoCafe @intervals,
on contribution!
Phone: +91-11-26033088/ 26027845
Email: space.kriti@gmail.com
Blog us:
http://krititeam.blogspot.com/
Facebook group: Kriti team
Facebook page: Gestures by Kriti team
PS: Nearest Metro station is Govindpuri Metro station on
Violet line. Tara Apartments is also connected well by bus. If driving by car
or bike, parking is available outside the apartments.
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