I saw this documentary at opening night of the South Asian Film Festival in San Francisco. It shows Buddhist monks bringing children from the mountaintop enclave of Zanskar in the hinterlands of India on a harrowing trip through snow-choked passes to schools where they have a chance to become teachers, monks and nuns.
Seeing people working together their whole lives to help each other in one of the most isolated, harshest areas on earth was a humbling experience. And the Buddhist monks who sacrifice their own safety to help these people survive the encroaching outside world is so uplifting after being exposed to all the slimy religious televangelist types in the United States. The scenery is beautiful, but the people are more beautiful. But it's devastating to realize that these kinds of people are the ones whose way of life is being threatened by globalization, monetization and McDonaldization.
Documentaries like this one always raise the question of why the filmmakers, who obviously have the resources to do so, don't just help the people they are filming rather than record their struggles for the entertainment of comfortable moviegoers. There is no easy answer. But the point of documentaries is to show what is happening, not to change what is happening. And it was clear from the q&a with the filmmaker afterward that he is trying to help these people through his involvement with a nonprofit organization. So-- it is possible to both record the reality AND change the reality-- but the two things do not have to be done at the same time.
This movie made me want to volunteer at the new school that is being built in Zanskar. Pretty effective.
Seeing people working together their whole lives to help each other in one of the most isolated, harshest areas on earth was a humbling experience. And the Buddhist monks who sacrifice their own safety to help these people survive the encroaching outside world is so uplifting after being exposed to all the slimy religious televangelist types in the United States. The scenery is beautiful, but the people are more beautiful. But it's devastating to realize that these kinds of people are the ones whose way of life is being threatened by globalization, monetization and McDonaldization.
Documentaries like this one always raise the question of why the filmmakers, who obviously have the resources to do so, don't just help the people they are filming rather than record their struggles for the entertainment of comfortable moviegoers. There is no easy answer. But the point of documentaries is to show what is happening, not to change what is happening. And it was clear from the q&a with the filmmaker afterward that he is trying to help these people through his involvement with a nonprofit organization. So-- it is possible to both record the reality AND change the reality-- but the two things do not have to be done at the same time.
This movie made me want to volunteer at the new school that is being built in Zanskar. Pretty effective.