The fabulous Travelling Flicks is on the road again – this time bringing the story of the Buddhist nuns of the Kathmandu Valley – Daughters of Dolma – to the Drill Hall in Mullumbimby on Friday, July 1.
In Daughters of Dolma, writer-director Adam Miklos take viewers on an inspirational journey to the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal, revealing a distinctively female experience of Tibetan Buddhism. This feature-length documentary offers a fascinating insight into the lives of individual nuns who are very aware of and interested in the world outside their beautiful valley.
Ani Pema is a thoroughly modern nun with an engaging smile who enjoys fashion, horror movies – the nuns have regular movie nights gathered around the TV – Michael Jackson’s music and Facebook. She has not only read Eat, Pray, Love, she’s seen the movie. Ani Jangchup supports her brother’s favorite soccer team Manchester United, and soccer is a passion for many of the nuns, with scenes showing the younger girls having fun kicking a soccer ball around the nunnery gardens. But they are also devout Buddhists, devoting hours to their spiritual practice and studies, while Ani Jangchup also speaks earnestly of her determination to achieve the Lopon, a nine-year degree equal to an M.A.
Writer/director Adam Miklos takes the viewer deep into the world of the Tibetan Buddhist nuns.
The nuns are also interested in feminism and its role in empowering women, sharing impassioned discussions on the gender differences between women and men, including the special treatment monks receive from their families and the Buddhist hierarchy. They are also aware of the current Dalai Lama’s declaration that he himself is “a feminist” who may well be reborn as a woman, and they are optimistic that times are changing even in a culture where there are words for women that literally mean “inferior being” or “lesser birth.” And where women pray for their next birth to be in a male body.
Daughters of Dolma screens at 7.30 pm on Friday July 1 at the Drill Hall, Mullumbimby. There will be soup, chai and cakes available from 6.30 pm, and all funds raised will support Shenpen Australia, which helps preserve the unique cultural and spiritual heritage of the Himalayan region and hosts H.E. Dzogchen Rinpoche’s international teaching tours every year.
H.E. Dzogchen Rinpoche is one of the highest lamas in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. He is the head of Dzogchen Monastery and the authentic holder of the Dzogchen lineage which is the oldest and highest lineage within Tibetan Buddhism. Renowned as the embodiment of Dzogpachenpo, the fully awakened mind, Dzogchen Rinpoche is a modern lama who makes the ancient teachings accessible to all. For more information visit www.shenpenaustralia.org <https://www.shenpenaustralia.org> .
Tickets $15 available from Mullum Bookshop or email [email protected].
