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Ritu Sarin & Tenzing Sonam
Some Questions on the Nature of Your Existence, 2007

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Tenzing Sonam

Ritu Sarin & Tenzing Sonam

Commissions & Productions

Single-channel video installation, color, sound
25 min 36 sec
Commissioned by Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary

In Some Questions on the Nature of Your Existence, Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam filmed Tibetan Buddhist monks debating as part of their training in exile in Southern India, where the Drepung Monastery has been reconstructed. The training method depicted represents a tradition dating back a thousand years. Following the basic tenets of Buddhism, it uses the three-step argument of syllogims, aiming to deepen understanding of the concept of the Wheel of Life that represents the causes and effects of the entire universe. The debate is very vigorous. Modulated voices can be heard from the meeting places and gardens of the many temples, punctuated by the sound of clapping. In fact, the intensity and excitement are of a similar level to that generated by sports. Viewers of the film are made aware that learning the techniques of profound meditation and search is not just a cerebral process.

camera: Avijit Mukul Kishore, Ranjan Palit
sound: Suresh Rajamani
editor: Anupama Chandra
sound mix: Asheesh Pandya
consultant: Thupten Jinpa Langri
translations: Tenzin Tsepag
production assistant: Karma Khedup
shot on location at: Drepung Monastery, and Tibetan Refugee Settlement, South India

Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam have been directing and producing films since the 1980s. Including their time as students, they lived for long periods in America and the UK before returning to India in 1996. Their collaborative works are closely related to Tibet, the root of Sonam's own identity.

Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam are living and working in Dharamshala and New Delhi, India

artists website

https://whitecranefilms.com

Procedures and Rules of Tibetan Debate

RELATED PROGRAM

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Ritu Sarin & Tenzing Sonam
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Julian Rosefeldt
asylum, 2001/2002

5th DIFF Dharamshala International Film Festival
November 3–6, 2016 | Dharamshala, India

Artists

Ritu Sarin & Tenzing Sonam

Ritu Sarin & Tenzing SonamSome Questions on the Nature of Your Existence, 2007

Ritu Sarin & Tenzing Sonam
Some Questions on the Nature of Your Existence, 2007