My Reincarnation
“With her signature intimacy and the complete trust of her subjects, Fox expertly distills a decades-long drama into a truly unique family story.” — Myrocia Watamaniuk, Hot Docs
Genres & Subjects: Family dynamics, Religion
Director/Producer/Photography: Jennifer Fox
Editor: Sabine Krayenbühl
Music: Jan Tilman Schade, Moe Jaksch
In English, Italian and Tibetan, with English subtitles
DigiBeta
With: Chögyal Namkhai Norbu, Yeshi Namkhai
Festivals: Hot Docs, DOK Leipzig, Amsterdam Documentary 2010
This epic documentary, 20 years in the making, traces the relationship between Tibetan Buddhist master Chögyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche and his Italian-born son. Director Jennifer Fox was working as the Rinpoche’s secretary when she first met his son in 1989. Eighteen-year-old Yeshi had conflicting feelings about a father whom he saw once a year for three or four days, but whom other people constantly sought out for guidance and counsel. ‘They see him as a solution’, he surmises, ‘but they forget that he is human.’ Himself recognised at birth as the reincarnation of Rinpoche’s uncle and master, the young man has a great responsibility resting upon his shoulders. His growth from truculent resistance to a measured accommodation of his heritage is watched over by a father fulfilling his own ancestral destiny. It’s a dramatic tale which rewards on many levels: as a study of exile; of Eastern spirituality in the contemporary West; as a classic father/son struggle; and not least as a contemplation of mortality, inheritance and spiritual continuance. — SR
View the trailer on Flicks.co.nz
