Libguides: Nepal Trip (Sasson): Selected Library films

DVD Films - Nepal

These films can be checked out at the Circulation Desk in the Library. While they cannot be borrowed overnight, they can be played in any computer in the school.

Samjana: Memories and Resistance (DVD)
DVD-391

This film documents the life and struggle of an amazing Nepali woman, Samjana, one of the many ordinary Nepali who have succeeded in bringing a revolution to their country, a revolution which is unfolding as the days go by.

Films On Demand - Nepal

Films On Demand is an online streaming database of educational films. Any of the following films can be viewed either on or off campus. However, for off campus viewing, you must log in to the films on demand database first. To do so, go to the Find art, films and music page on the Library website, click on the link to Films On Demand, and log in using your student number, followed by "@marianopolis.com" as your username (e.g. 1234567@marianopolis.com) and the same password that you use to log in to the school's computers.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place: The Debt Slaves of Nepal (Streaming Video)
In parts of Nepal, there is little paying work available to untouchables. Forced to borrow small sums just to survive, they quickly become debt slaves to higher-caste people—and although the practice is illegal, it all too often represents the only chance Dalits have to obtain food. This program contrasts the lives of Bharat, who seeks emancipation through the assistance of a debt slave-turned-activist, and Ganga, who can picture no other future for himself. The cameras also capture the everyday discrimination against untouchables; the matter-of-fact nature of it as depicted in this documentary is certain to make a powerful impression on viewers.
Born into Prostitution: The Badis of Nepal (Streaming Video)
A daughter of a Badi prostitute is required to be registered under the surname Nepali. So marked from birth, she is born into prostitution and is expected to follow her mother into that trade—unless the family, the Dalit community, or charitable NGOs are moved to help them make a change. This program profiles two Badi families and the positive efforts of one former prostitute and Suklal Nepali, director of SAFE (Social Awareness for Education), to assist them. Ironically, it is a sex customer, through his blunt appraisal of Badi prostitutes, who inadvertently speaks the most eloquently of these women’s plight.
A Living Goddess in Kathmandu (Streaming Video)
The Kumari, a flesh-and-blood goddess, is revered by both Hindus and Buddhists in Nepal as a protector of the land and defender of all living beings. This program traces the mythological underpinnings of the Kumari and presents the living tradition of Kumari worship, including the Kumari selection, the secret preparation rituals, and Kumari-related festivals and ceremonies. It also discusses the relationship between the Kumari and the king.
Nepal: Medicine of the Summits - World Medicine (Streaming Video)
Emergency doctor Bernard Fontanille travels to the village of Pokharato discover the secrets of traditional Tibetan medicine. He visits the school of brothers Tenzing and Gyasto Bista, the last guardians of amchi. Among twenty children ranging in age from 6 to 15, Fontanille discovers a well-structured institution: dormitories, a kitchen, classrooms, acupuncture rooms, laboratories, and a biomedical garden to harvest the basic ingredients for the various remedies.
Nepal: The Road (Streaming Video)
Tibet is out of reach for refugees, who can only dream of return. Musician Tenzin Choegyal has the very vaguest recollections of Tibet, as he was spirited out by his mother and father as a young boy. But he's determined to see it once again, across the Nepal-China border. He must pass through remote, difficult terrain, including the remote Upper Mustang, where Tibetan culture is still preserved. Along an ancient trade route a major, transformative road is being built up to the Tibetan border. Some hope for modernization and an end to isolation. We consider the tension between modernity and preserving ancient culture.
The Search for Shangri-La (Streaming Video)
James Hilton popularized the tale of the magical hidden valley of Shangri-La in the 1930s in his novel, Lost Horizon. However, the story of a lost kingdom high in the Himalayas—a paradise free from war and suffering—is descended from a much older Indian myth. In this program, Michael Wood takes a thrilling trek through India, Nepal, and to Tibet’s Mount Kailash, the sacred center of the world for all Hindus and Buddhists. After hundreds of miles on dirt roads, he reaches the fantastic ruins of the lost city of Tsaparang, which he suggests is the real inspiration behind the Shangri-La myth.
Taboo: Sacred Pains (Streaming Video)
Among the many religions of the world one can still clearly observe the shamanic imperative to enter the realm of the sacred—and some practitioners will do whatever it takes to reach that elevated state. This program looks at rites and rituals designed to achieve spiritual awakening through physical pain and bodily injury. A village in Nepal welcomes the New Year with a tongue-boring ceremony. In Bali, the faithful turn knives against their own bodies. And in Thailand, some religious devotees climb ladders with razor-sharp steps to please their deities.

DVD Films - Tibet

These films can be checked out at the Circulation Desk in the Library. While they cannot be borrowed overnight, they can be played in any computer in the school.

Films On Demand - Tibet

Dalai Lama: The Soul of Tibet (Streaming Video)
From a childhood in “Shangri-La” to a life in exile, this episode of Biography presents the turbulent yet life-affirming journey of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Born Tenzin Gyatso, he is the 14th man recognized by his people as Buddha’s reincarnation. Yet for a person so widely respected, the Dalai Lama has been forced to live in exile since 1959, after a failed rebellion against occupying Chinese forces caused him to flee his nation. Historic footage from the Dalai Lama’s life and interviews with Chinese scholars, pro-Tibet activists, and His Holiness himself chronicle in great detail the struggle to free Tibet.
The Dalai Lama and the Rituals of Reincarnation (Streaming Video)
From supreme religious authority, to god-king, to Manchu pawn, to icon in exile, the role of the Dalai Lama has been in continual flux. In this program, Dr. Robert Thurman, Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University; the authors of The Last Dalai Lama and Tibetan Nation; His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso; and others investigate the intricate procedure of identifying a reincarnated Dalai Lama against the backdrop of Tibetan power politics and Chinese expansion, carrying the history of the Dalai Lama forward from the birth of Sonam Gyatso’s successor to the life in exile of Tibet’s 14th spiritual leader.
Tibet: A Buddhist Triology (Streaming Video)
This documentary takes viewers to the heart of an ancient Buddhist culture with an in-depth exploration of Tibetan spirituality and daily life. Segment one begins by observing Tibetan monks engaged in spirited metaphysical debate, revealing the everyday life of the Dalai Lama before he was widely known in the West in his dual role as political leader and spiritual teacher. Segment two moves deeper into the inner world of monastic life, powerfully revealing the essence of tantric Buddhism as it follows the monks of Phulwary Sakya Monastery through their contemplative retreats, the building of an intricate cosmogram, and the performance of an ancient protective ritual known as A Beautiful Ornament. Segment three is a meditation on impermanence, ending with an unflinching depiction of the monastery’s moving ritual response to a death in the community. As in The Tibetan Book of the Dead, the departed is guided through the dream-like intermediate state between death and birth.
Tibet: Worlds Together (Streaming Video)
Tibet: Worlds Together provides a basic view of this important ancient culture that is struggling to adapt to modern times. Includes a discussion of Tibetan communities in exile in Nepal.
Tibetan Buddhism: Politics, Power, and the Birth of the Dalai Lama (Streaming Video)
Indian Buddhism transformed Tibet from a feudal society to an egalitarian culture that valued learning and religion—but not without a fierce and protracted struggle between vying monasteries. In this program, Dr. Robert Thurman, Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University; Michael Harris Goodman, biographer of the 14th Dalai Lama; and historian Dr. Shagdaryn Bira examine Tibetan Buddhism, the Lhasa/Shigatse power struggle and intervention by Genghis Khan, subsequent Tibetan alliances with Kublai and Altan Khan to contain Chinese political aspirations, and the institution of the Dalai Lama.
The Unwinking Gaze: The Inside Story of the Dalai Lama’s Struggle For Tibet (Streaming Video)
Filmed over the course of three years, this documentary offers viewers unprecedented access to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and his inner circle as they work together to convince the Chinese government of the need for a negotiated settlement on the future of Tibet. The result is a truly unique portrait of a widely revered world leader as he struggles to strike a balance between his spiritual beliefs and the realpolitik required to draw an extremely reluctant China into discussion. The Unwinking Gaze is not three years in the life of the Dalai Lama; it is his life’s work condensed into three years.

National Film Board of Canada - Tibet

The National Film Board of Canada's (NFB) database is a rich repository of films by Canadian filmmakers produced by the NFB itself. Below is a selection of documentary films pertaining to Tibet. You can also access the NFB's database through the Find art, films and music page on the Library website.

A Song for Tibet (Streaming Video)
Filmed in the Indian Himalayas and in Canada, A Song for Tibet tells the dramatic story of the efforts by Tibetans in exile, including the Dalai Lama, to save their homeland and preserve their heritage against overwhelming odds. Since the invasion of their territory by China in the late 1950s, Tibetans have been struggling for cultural and political survival.

Nepal Trip (Sasson): Selected Library films

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DVD Films - Nepal

Films On Demand - Nepal

DVD Films - Tibet

Films On Demand - Tibet

National Film Board of Canada - Tibet