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Blessings: The Tsoknyi nangchen nuns of Tibet Buick riviera
USA
In Tibet, the word for woman translates as “lower rebirth.” In a remote
CROATIA
In Buick Riviera, based on a novel by Miljenko Jergovic, Croatian director
Director: Victress Hitchcock eastern region of the country, the Tsoknyi Nangchen nuns defy this Director: Goran Rusinovic Goran Rusinovic paints a bleak picture of life as experienced by his
Producer: Chariot Productions definition. Devoted to the ancient practices of Tibetan Buddhism – once Producers: Boris T. Matic, Kate Barry
hopeless protagonist, Hasan, who is freeze-framed by frigid days and
Screenwriter: Victress Hitchcock
primarily a male domain – over 3,000 nuns have attained elevated
Screenwriters: Goran Rusinovic,
nights. Seventeen years ago, Hasan left civil war–torn Bosnia for the
Cinematographers: Amber Bemak,
status. Director Victress Hitchcock honors them in this moving docu- Miljenko Jergovic States. Now unemployed and alienated, he lives with his wife Angela
Josh Kinney, Barbara Green mentary, which follows the journey of a small group of Western women Cinematographer: Igor Martinovic
in Fargo, North Dakota, taking refuge only in his beat-up Buick Riviera.
MS: A to Z
Editor: Victress Hitchcock
to remote mountain hermitages to meet these nuns. Buddhist teacher When Angela, a local policewoman, insists he get rid of the clunker,
MS: A to Z
Editors: Vlado Gojun, Miran Miosic
il
narrator: Richard Gere
and spiritual leader Tsoknyi Rinpoche III leads the group, imparts his
Cast: Slavko Stimac, Leon Lucev,
he responds, “That Buick is my America. I always felt at home in it.”
il
2009 / color / 104 min.
knowledge, and bridges the gap between cultures. Aimee Klein Tortured by memories of his homeland, Hasan ignores her plea to just
E F
be part of a “normal couple” and spends his days driving aimlessly down
E F
h
2009 / color / 86 min.
h
T
Narrated by Richard Gere, Blessings explains the Tibetan Buddhist desolate highways.
T
monastic system and the changing role of women within it, incorporat-
ViCTrESS hiTChCoCK
ing historic black-and-white footage from the 1960s Cultural Revolution
A graduate of the London Film School Goran ruSinoViC
One icy night, Hasan’s car skids off the road. Stranded, he waits. By
and recipient of a Creative Fellowship
of the People’s Republic of China, when all 40 Nangchen nunneries were
A native of Zagreb, Goran Rusinovic
chance (or not), Vuko, a fellow exile, stops his car to rescue him. The
in Media from the Colorado Council destroyed. Many of the nuns were imprisoned in work camps; others majored in painting at the Fine Arts
two share a common language and a grim past – which found them
on the Arts, Victress Hitchcock has
scattered back to their nomadic families. A few survivors hid in caves
Institute of Zagreb. Going on to
on opposite sides of the war. At first, Vuko, who has just left his rich
written, directed, produced, and
until, years later, they surfaced to rebuild the nunneries, stone by stone.
postgraduate study at the European Film
American wife, confides his personal tale of woe. When he begins to
edited documentaries and educational
Elders who kept the yogic tradition alive now teach it to young women.
College in Denmark, he then received
drop ethnic slurs into the conversation, though, Hasan refuses to engage
videos for 35 years. Producing over 20 a scholarship to study at the New York
educational videos on violence and
Film Academy.
further. Vuko accuses Hasan of being a Muslim, a charge he denies. And
drug abuse prevention for Discovery
Hitchcock interviews both the nuns and the women who come so far, so begins a deeply brooding psychological game of wits – with destruc-
Education, she has also won awards for physically and spiritually, to meet them. The former, some fresh from a
Filmography tive consequences.
several PBS films.
three-year retreat, explain why they chose their path; the latter speak
The World’s Greatest Monster (2003)
candidly of the trip’s profound impact upon them, as egos and twenty-
Bosnavision (1999)
Meanwhile, Buick Riviera’s surreal landscapes, often viewed through the
Mondo Bobo (1997)
first-century concerns fall away. Inspirational as it is, though, Blessings car windshield, haunt the viewer long after the final scene – offering a
doesn’t lack a lighter side. In one memorable scene, the nuns chant and beguiling sense of freedom just beyond the trap.
play their music for their guests, who respond in kind by dancing to the
tune of Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.”
WORlD pREMiERE
In cooperation with: pundarika Foundation
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