The Toronto International Film festival has released its complete line-up of their documentary slate, and it includes the highly anticipated, thought provoking soon to be released, Samsara.
Samsara, directed by Ron Fricke, is a Tibetan word that means “the ever turning wheel of life,” a concept both intimate and vast, the perfect subject for filmmakers Ron Fricke and Mark Magidson whose previous collaborations include Chronos and Baraka.
Serving as Samsara’s predecessor, Baraka, which means blessings in a multitude of languages, presented “no plot, no storyline, no actor, no dialogues nor any voice-over. Instead, the film used themes of interconnection and transcendence to present new life affirming perspectives and evoke emotions that weave a global compilation of natural events, fate, life and activities of humanity on Earth.”
Samsara will focus on “the cycle of birth, death and rebirth, from the perspectives of many cultures. Through powerful images, the film will illuminate the links between humanity and the rest of nature, showing how our life cycle mirrors the rhythm of the planet.”
Here is the director’s proposed outline for the two-hour film:
- Prologue: Creation. Moving from a view, which encompasses an atom, the views will expand in scale, until a sand painting is shown. Using the painting as a kind of portal, the viewer will be introduced to four ancestor spirit guides.
- Act 1: Spirit taking form. This section will focus on an amorphous spirit, seeking expression. At the end of the segment, that spirit will come into form as a newborn baby.
- Act 2: Matter, one turn of the wheel. This section expands on the single birth of Act I, and explores the global cycle of birth to death, represented by the ancestor spirits of the prologue.
- Act 3: Samsara, the wheel of life.The focus of this section is the journey of the spirit after death, and the impermanence of the material world. Abandon, decay, and death will be the primary themes.
- Epilogue: Rebirth.The view will go back through the sand painting of the prologue, which will be reassembled, and the portal will be sealed.
Samsara will reveal parts of our planet that have never before been photographed. It will combine original and indigenous music with dance as well as other contemporary art forms.
Samsara will have its World Premier screening at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on September 11, 2011.
TIFF is a charitable cultural organization whose mission is to transform the way people see the world through film.
You can purchase festival ticket packages online 24 hours a day at tiff.net/festival, by phone Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET at 416-599-TIFF or 1-888-599-8433, and in person at the TIFF Bell Lightbox Box Office at 350 King St. West from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET.
The 36th Toronto International Film Festival runs September 8th thru the 18th, 2011.
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