A special presentation in collaboration with the MSU College of Arts & Architecture’s Presidents Fine Art Series, Bozeman Film Society will host the premiere of 2018’s Rituals of Resistance on Wednesday, April 17th at The Ellen Theatre. Opened by restored film Raid Into Tibet (1966), the evening begins at 7pm and will also feature a panel discussion with directors Tenzin Phuntsog and Joy Dietrich. This event is FREE and open to the public.
Phuntsog is a Tibetan-American filmmaker, founder of the Tibet Film Archive, and Assistant Professor at MSU School of Film and Photography. Rituals of Resistance explores modes of resistance to the Chinese occupation by speaking with activists across three generations: Tendar, a former Tibetan monk who broke his vows and became a guerrilla leader in the 1960s; Dolma, the filmmaker’s own mother who followed the Dalai Lama’s Middle Path, emigrating to raise her family in America; and Lhakpa, a young Tibetan man who attempts to self-immolate in 2006.
Deftly combining stunning archival materials and compelling, sometimes edge-of-your-seat, new footage with intimate testimonies, Phuntsog and co-director Joy Dietrich have created a powerful documentary that sheds an unprecedented light on the way Tibetans try to cope with their exile and the situation in their country due to the occupation. Writes Phuntsog, “My intent is to expand upon the concept of “resistance” looking beyond the conventional definition, looking more closely at the philosophical, psychological and internal aspects.”
In 1964, British filmmakers Adrian Cowell, George Patterson, and Chris Menges (the Oscar-winning cinematographer of The Killing Fields) traveled with the Khampa guerrillas over a 20,000-foot pass from a remote region of Nepal into occupied Tibet and captured an ambush on a Chinese military convoy. The footage – smuggled out just one step ahead of the CIA and released to critical acclaim as Raid into Tibet – remains an important historical artifact, the only known footage of Tibetan resistance fighters in combat with the Chinese.
Not rated, Rituals of Resistance has a runtime of 63 minutes while Raid Into Tibet runs 28 minutes.
Looking to Wednesday, May 8th, BFS hosts the Bozeman premiere of The River and the Wall at the Emerson Center for the Arts & Culture at 7:30pm. The event will feature Director Ben Masters, Executive Producer Cindy Meehl, and the Bozeman-based camera crew in attendance.
In the film, five friends embark on a 1,200-mile mountain bike, horse, and canoe expedition down the Rio Grande to document the borderlands before construction of a wall and to explore how it would impact wildlife, immigration, public lands, border security, and landowners. Told through stunning cinematography, the film takes audiences on an adventure down the US-Mexico border to see the 1,000-foot high canyons, vast mountains, vibrant cities, and lush forests in the path of Trump’s proposed border wall.
During the three month journey, the team meets with Democrat Congressman Beto O’Rourke, Republican Congressman Will Hurd, Border Patrol agents, wildlife biologists, immigration experts, and landowners to better understand how a wall would work and where it would go. As the vast wilderness of the Big Bend gives way to the more populated Lower Rio Grande Valley, the team comes face-to-face with the human side of the immigration debate and enters uncharted emotional waters.
“It would be a big mistake to peg this as a political movie. It’s much more than that. In fact, it is a thrilling and gorgeous tale of adventure, with humor and flat-out wonder at nature’s beauty.” – Austin360
Not rated, The River and the Wall runs 109 minutes.
Reserved seats for the Rituals of Resistance-fronted evening is free on a first come, first serve basis. Tickets for The River and the Wall event are $16 in store at Cactus Records and www.cactusrecords.net (plus fees).
Bozeman Film Society seeks out and presents independent films which engage, entertain, and foster an understanding of the world community around us. Visit www.bozemanfilmsociety.org for film previews and further information – and “Keep ‘Em Flickering!”
