SAMSARA
Trailer
Synopsis
Every morning, a Buddhist teenager visits an old woman's house to read her The Bardo Thödol, a guide to the journey between death and the next rebirth. On her last day, the young man whispers the last passages of the book in her ear, closes his eyes and meditates with her, as she embarks on a transformative journey toward what lies beyond.
Film sheet
Every morning, a Buddhist teenager visits an old woman's house to read her The Bardo Thödol, a guide to the journey between death and the next rebirth. On her last day, the young man whispers the last passages of the book in her ear, closes his eyes and meditates with her, as she embarks on a transformative journey toward what lies beyond...
LANGUAGES): swahili
SUBTITLE:
COUNTRY(S): Spain
PREMIER TYPE: Regional Premiere
SECTION: Hispanic Looks
DIRECTOR(S): Lois patiño
PRODUCER(S): Claudia Salcedo, Garbiñe Ortega, Leire Apellaniz
SCREENWRITER(S): Lois Patiño, Garbiñe Ortega
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Mauro Herce, Jessica Sarah Rinland
EDITOR: Lois patiño
MUSIC: Xabier Erkizia
CONTACT: Blessed Film Sales
DISTRIBUTION: Amid Keomany, Toumor Xiong, Simone Milavanh, Mariam Vuaa Mtego, Juwairiya Idrisa Uwesu, Bernedeta Gaspar, Ame Simai
Director's Statement
«For Samsara, my first idea was to make a film that could be seen with your eyes closed. Then, when I read The Tibetan Book of the Dead, I thought it might be interesting to link this experience with a journey through the bardo, the Buddhist concept of the intermediate or transitional state. One of the key concepts of the book is to recognize all light as your own light, all sound as your own sound. In this film it goes further, in the sense that we are connecting very different cultures with the idea of a soul traveling from one body to another. In a sense, it's a small attempt to bring more brotherhood, and I think that's a good thing it's trying to bring about. We are always interested in something that we do not understand. All cultures and religions try to give provisional answers to the unknown in the form of myths and beliefs. One of the most important questions is the question of what is after life. These myths, these stories appear to try to calm the anxiety about death that we all have. “In Samsara, I wanted to focus on the Buddhist answer to that mystery.”
Festivals and awards
«For Samsara, my first idea was to make a film that could be seen with your eyes closed. Then, when I read The Tibetan Book of the Dead, I thought it might be interesting to link this experience with a journey through the bardo, the Buddhist concept of the intermediate or transitional state. One of the key concepts of the book is to recognize all light as your own light, all sound as your own sound. In this film it goes further, in the sense that we are connecting very different cultures with the idea of a soul traveling from one body to another. In a sense, it's a small attempt to bring more brotherhood, and I think that's a good thing it's trying to bring about. We are always interested in something that we do not understand. All cultures and religions try to give provisional answers to the unknown in the form of myths and beliefs. One of the most important questions is the question of what is after life. These myths, these stories appear to try to calm the anxiety about death that we all have. “In Samsara, I wanted to focus on the Buddhist answer to that mystery.”
2023 Meetings at the Berlinale | Berlin International Film Festival · Special Jury Prize JEONJU International Film Festival | JEONJU film project IndieLisboa | International competition European Union Film Festival – Romania Bildrausch Basel Film Festival FICUNAM | International Competition · GENERACIÓN Festival Audience Award Taipei Film Festival | Reality hurts Zanzibar International Film Festival Karlovy Vary International Film Festival | Horizons Golden Apricot Yerevan IFF | International competition New Horizons International Film Festival | Helsinki IFF International Competition – Love and Anarchy | Next level Buddhist Film Festival This I Have Seen 25 FPS – Zagreb International Video and Experimentation Festival BFI London Film Festival | Daring Montreal New Cinema Festival | International Panorama Bogotá International Film Festival | Expanded views Under Dox | International Experimental and Documentary Film Festival Caballero Film Festival | Bordeaux International Independent FF Official Selection | International Feature Film Competition · Best Original Music Lima International Alternative Film Festival | Ibero-American Competition · Best Ibero-American Film Bergen International Film Festival | Extraordinary Film Competition São Paulo International Film Festival | International perspective SEMINCI – Valladolid International Film Festival | Official Selection Kyiv International Film Festival Molodist | form Thessaloniki International Film Festival | Film Forward Competition · IDFA Golden Alexander Festival Award | Paradocs Ljubljana International Film Festival | Perspectives Transit Film Festival Laceno D’oro International Film Festival | Competence.
Lois patiño
Born in Galicia in 1983, he studied psychology at the Complutense University of Madrid and film at the Centro Universitario de Artes and the New York Film Academy. He completed his studies with a master's degree in creative documentary at the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona. He has shown his films at festivals such as Cannes, Berlinale, Locarno, Toronto, Rotterdam, New York, Viennale, IDFA and Oberhausen. His most recent works “Sycorax” (2021) and “The Sower of Stars” (2022), have premiered at the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight and Berlinale Shorts, and his two feature films “Costa da Morte” (2013) and “Red Moon Tide” (2020) premiered at Locarno and Berlinale Forum. His latest feature film, “Samsara”, premiered at Berlinale Encounters (2023), winning the Special Jury Prize. He is currently working on two other films that will be released in 2023 and 2024.
Director's Filmography
Samsara 2023
2022 The Star Sower (short)
2021 Sycorac (co-directed with Matías Piñeiro) (short)
Red Moon Tide 2020 Fajr 2016 (short)
2015 Strata of the Image (short)
2015 Night Without Distance (short)
2013 Coast of Death
2012 Mountain in Shadow (short)