This is My Life

This is My Life

USA

2014

21 mins

Tibetan, Nepali and English with English Subtitles

Documentary

Synopsis

According to the 2001 Nepali census, 9% of Nepalis are Buddhists. This touching short documentary follows two teenage monks, Tsultrim Namgyal and Ratna Mangalam who left their homes in rural Nepal at a young age and came to study the Buddhist Dharma in Kathmandu. As residents of Riwoche Monsatary and Vajra Varahi Monastery, they study Nepali, Tibetan, English, Mathematics, and Dharma among other things. The film enlightens why these young boys chose their respective paths.

Director

Amber Bemak

Amber Bemak is a video artist, documentary filmmaker, and a media educator. She has worked internationally in India, Nepal, Kenya, Mexico, Tibet, and the United States. Her work has been shown at film festivals in over twenty countries, museums, community film screenings, Buddhist monasteries, and universities including the Rubin Museum of Art, the Washington Post Online, Brooklyn Museum’s Elizabeth A. Sackler Centre for Feminist Art, and dOCUMENTA13. Amber holds an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

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