Premieres of dramatic features from Bhutan, Holland, and Thailand, along with documentaries from Canada, Korea, China, Finland, Ireland, Myanmar, Holland, and the US, present an extraordinary diversity of Buddhist cultures, traditions, personalities and practices today. A very special program of new short works from Myanmar suggests a vibrant cinema community in the making, and the On Meditation shorts screening throughout the festival offer an intimate look at the place of practice in everyday life with some very special individuals.

The first dates for IBFF 2015 are April 10–16 at the Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael, California, a copresentation of Buddhist Film Foundation and California Film Institute. Over a dozen premieres from 8 countries: documentaries featuring Peter Matthiessen, Alan Watts, Joan Halifax, Kaz Tanahashi, W.S. Merwin, Jetsun Khandro, Gelek Rinpoche, Sharon Salzberg, Bill Porter and others, along with features from Bhutan, China, Korea and the Netherlands. Several filmmakers and special guests will be attending.

“This is our 15th year as well as the 10th anniversary of our first Smith Rafael Film Center event, so we’re very excited to be back in San Rafael,” says IBFF executive director Gaetano Kazuo Maida. He adds, “And IBFF 2015 is slated to travel to several countries around the Pacific Rim over the next year, offering us a wonderful opportunity to share these new works with new and very diverse audiences in a number of countries.”

Two interesting strands emerged in the programming:

Buddhism in America (BIA)

There have always been multiple approaches in the Buddhist arena, and everything continues to change. IBFF 2015 presents a number of films that touch on Buddhism in the west and particularly in America today.

American Rimpoche
Dharma Rising
Even Though the Whole World Is Burning
Giving Life to Life
Khandro: A Woman’s Path of Peace
On Meditation
Painting Peace
Why Not Now? With Alan Watts

Buddhist Broadcasting Foundation (BOS)

BOS is the ­independent Buddhist broadcasting unit of the Public Broadcasting System of The Netherlands. IBFF has worked with BOS on programming through the years and we are delighted to include four films in this festival that were produced and broadcast by BOS.

Bardsongs
Giving Life to Life
Khandro: A Woman’s Path of Peace
Painting Peace

And filmmakers from China, Holland, Finland, and across the US will be on hand to introduce and discuss their films. Other special guests include poet Jane Hirshfield, filmmaker Ellen Bruno, and dharma teacher/musician/author extraordinaire Wes Nisker. Several filmmakers will participate via Skype for live Q&A.

Source: buddhistfilmfoundation.org