"Between Time & Tibet" Screens at Oddball Films August 21, 2009

Event: Oddball Films continues its ongoing program of ritual and tradition in Tibet with “Between Time and Tibet” a new program of films about Tibet including Nien-Sheg Lin’s 1982 film “Tibet in Transition”, Elda Hartley’s “Requiem For a Faith: Tibetan Buddhism”, with commentary by Houston Smith, , “Between Time”, “Tanka” and Tibetan clips from the Oddball Films archive.
Date: Friday, August 21, 2009 at 8:30PM
Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco
Admission: $10.00 RSVP Only to: 415-558-8117 or [email protected]
Web: http://oddballfilm.com/oddballftp/Time_Tibet.pdf

Between Time and Tibet
Screens at Oddball Films

Friday, August 21, 2009 Oddball Films presents “Between Time and Tibet” a continuing series of films exploring ritual and tradition in Tibetan culture. The majority of these films are ethnographic documents showcasing traditional Tibetan rituals and traditions both inside and outside of Tibet. In addition David LeBrun’s hypnotic short Tanka will also be screened as well as various Tibetan clips from the Oddball Films archive. Showtime is 8:30PM and admission is $10.00. Seating is limited so RSVPs are essential. RSVP to: [email protected] or 415-558-8117. Oddball Films is located at 275 Capp St. in San Francisco.
Films include:
Tibet in Transition (Color, 1982)
Nien-Sheng Lin’s rarely seen film documents the remarkable richness and variety of Tibetan life in all its forms: its spirituality, crafts, dances, medicinal system and traditional family life all set amidst the backdrop of a breathtakingly beautiful country high in the Himalayas. The film also provides a history of Tibet and discusses the challenges it faces to preserve its culture under Chinese rule as it transitions to modern living. This pristine color print features some vibrant footage of temple interiors, traditional weaving and Tibetan dance and village life.

Requiem For a Faith (Color, 1968)
Renowned world religions scholar Huston Smith (The Religions of Man) travels to Tibet in Requiem for a Faith to provide moving commentary that accompanies filmmaker Elda Hartley's remarkable images of this profoundly mystical Buddhist culture.
Hartley preserves the images of spirituality-the fluttering prayer flags, the lavishly colorful artwork and dance and the monks engaged in lively debate. Smith's meditation offers a comprehensive overview of the Tibetan belief system, from its deep compassion and densely populated spirit world, to the role of the Dalai Lama and the many methods used in the journey towards enlightenment.
This award-winning film provides a rare glimpse of hypnotic chanting ceremonies of the Tibetan Buddhist monks, who use a chanting technique so unusual that modern science has yet to understand it. Requiem for a Faith is a unique portrait of a society that in Huston Smith’s words "is so close to the sky, the natural occupation of its people is to pray."

Between Time: A Tibetan Village
(Color, 1984) Portrays Tibetan village life on the southern slopes of the Himalaya in northeast Nepal. Teliene. There, a Buddhist Lama and village elder and his nephew and a shaman conduct an exorcism ceremony which blends Lamaism (Tibetan Buddhism) and Bon (a form of animistic shamanism).

Tanka (1976)
Tanka means, literally, a thing rolled up. David LeBrun’s Tanka is brilliantly powered by the insight that Tibetan religious paintings are intended to be perceived in constant movement rather than repose. The film, photographed from Tibetan scroll paintings of the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries, is a cyclical vision of ancient gods and demons, wild revels, raging fires and sea battles with monsters-an animated journey through the image world of the “Tibetan Book of the Dead”. With an original score by Ashish Khan (sarod), Buddy Arnold (saxophone, clarinet, flute), Pranesh Khan (tablas) and Francisco Lupica (percussion).

Also: Clips from Buddhist practices in Tibet (1962) by the National Film Board of Canada and more.