INTERNATIONAL BUDDHIST FILM FESTIVAL 2012 BANGKOK
“Light after Illusion”
Film is essentially the art of make-believing. Various ideas learned through the filmmaker’s portrayal of the world can give life lessons to the audience. These ideas in turn enlighten the minds, freeing the viewer’s imaginations.
The Buddhist wisdom through cinematic lens brightens not only the eyes but up towards the spiritual level, resonating with each audience’s own interpretation depending on their individual experiences.
INTERNATIONAL BUDDHIST FILM FESTIVAL 2012 BANGKOK, will present films of Buddhist wisdom from around the world. Thailand, as global epicenter of Buddhism, can then become a world stage in showcasing these cinematic enlightenments to the world.
OPENING FILM
The Light of Asia (Prem Sanyas)
Opening Night at Scala Theatre on 6th June 2012
Starting from 5.30PM (Invitation Only)
1925, 110 minutes A film by Franz Osten & Himanshu Rai. Screening of silent film accompanied by live orchestra. The music will be a blend of traditional Thai, Indian and western scores.
Director: Franz Osten, Himanshu Rai
Screenplay: Edwin Arnold (story), Niranjan Pal (screenplay)
Cinematographer: Willi Kiermeier, Josef Wirsching
Cast: Seeta Devi, Himanshu Rai, Sarada Uki
Synopsis
This adaptation of Arnold's 1861 Orientalist epic opens with documentary shots of tourists in Bombay watching street performers. Then a white-bearded old man sitting under the bodhi tree tells the tourists the story of Gautama (Rai), son of King Suddodhana (Ukil) and Queen Maya (Bala), who left his consort Gopa (Seeta) and became a wandering teacher credited with founding Buddhism. The religious epic, with its idealized figures, takes up the narrative in flashback and ends with Gopa kneeling before Gautama asking to become his disciple.
Director’s Biography
Franz Osten (23 December 1876 – 2 December 1956) was a German filmmaker who along with Niranjan Pal was among the first retainers of Bombay Talkies. Osten partnered with Pal on a number of India's earliest blockbuster films like Achhut Kanya and Jeevan Naiya. Himanshu Rai (1892–1940), one of the pioneers of Indian cinema, is best known as the founder of the Bombay Talkies in 1934. He was associated with a number of movies, including Goddess (1922), The Light of Asia (1925), Siraj (1926), A Throw of Dice (1928), and Karma (1933). He was married to actress Devika Rani.