SUGGESTIONS OF NEW ENTRIES and COMMENTS
are always warmly welcome - tmciolek@ciolek.com

Monday, June 05, 2006

3 Films from Tibetan villages and monasteries, in an e-shop

http://people.lulu.com/users/index.php?fHomepage=236029

Tibetan Woman's Life
34-year old Sgrolmamtsho married Don'grub at the age of 21 (in 1993) without experience of housework, fieldwork, and fetching wood. Filmed by her husband's younger brother, 'phagspadon'grub, in Amdo, the film concentrates on the daily life of Tibetan village women--fetching water, feeding livestock (swine, a cow, a mule), milking, cleaning the stables, cooking, household religious activity, weeding fields, transporting manure to fields, fetching wood for fuel--along with commentary by Sgrolmamtsho about her life and family. (Rare insight into Tibetan village women's lives. Tibetan soundtrack; English subtitles. 52 minutes. Color.)
 
The Perfection of Wisdom
"The Perfection of Wisdom" (Phar phyin) is the one of the five treatises of Buddhist philosophy. Ngag dbang 'jam dbyangs, a monk at Bla brang Monastery in Gansu Province, China, earned this degree in 2004. This documentary, filmed and edited by his younger brother, documents the graduation ritual for the thirty monks who achieved this degree. The documentary features Ngag dbang 'jam dbyangs making 1,000 packages of sugar and raisins, given away at the ritual's end; debating Buddha's deeds in La Kha Lama's quarters the night before the formal ritual; and visiting the monastery halls early the next morning; the formal examination with an assembly of all monastic leaders and monks in the great hall; and congratulations from friends, family members, and teachers. A rare look into a contemporary large Tibetan Buddhist monastery. (Tibetan soundtrack; English subtitles. 27 minutes. Color.)
 
Tibetan Village Wedding
22-year old Lha dpa' tshe ring married 19-year old Tshe ring mtsho in rural 'ber gtsang mo Tibetan Village, located in east central Mtsho sngon (Qinghai) Province, northwest China. Both have some primary school education. Both are farmers, cultivating wheat, barley, beans, potatoes and edible oil crops. The documentary includes activities the night prior to the formal wedding party; the groom and his companion's arrival at the bride's home; women from the bride's village attacking the groom and his companion and pulling their ears; the companion singing to thwart the women's attack; the bride and her companions’ arrival at the groom's home; the bride prostrating three times to the groom's home's door protective deity, family god, and the fire deity; gifts; wedding food; orations; singing; the bride's entourage's departure; evening celebration. (Rare insight into village Tibetan life. Tibetan soundtrack; English subtitles. 35 minutes. Color.)


Please note that the above details were correct on the day this post was published. To suggest an update, please email the site's editor at tmciolek@ciolek.com