Award-winning "Unmistaken Child" debuts in Sedona on Sept. 15
The critically-acclaimed, audience choice award-winning documentary “Unmistaken Child” makes its Sedona debut on Tuesday, Sept. 15. There will be two screenings of the film at 4:00 and 7:00 p.m. at Harkins Sedona Six Theatres. “Unmistaken Child” is the third film in the Sedona International Film Festival’s four-week “What’s Up, Doc?” Documentary Series featuring award-winning documentaries from festivals around the world.
Nati Baratz’s new documentary “Unmistaken Child” is a real time documentation of the search for a reincarnated Tibetan master, told through the eyes of his lifelong disciple. Visually stunning, emotionally gripping, and shot over the course of four years, the film follows an ages-old sacred quest through the eyes of a remarkable attendant.
The Buddhist concept of reincarnation, while both mysterious and enchanting, is hard for most westerners to grasp. “Unmistaken Child” follows the 4-year search for the reincarnation of Lama Konchog, a world-renowned Tibetan master who passed away in 2001 at age 84. The Dalai Lama charges the deceased monk’s devoted disciple, Tenzin Zopa (who had been in his service since the age of seven), to search for his master’s reincarnation.
Tenzin sets off on this unforgettable quest on foot, mule and even helicopter, through breathtaking landscapes and remote traditional Tibetan villages. Along the way Tenzin listens to stories about young children with special characteristics, and performs rarely seen ritualistic tests designed to determine the likelihood of reincarnation. He eventually presents the child he believes to be his reincarnated master to the Dalai Lama so that he can make the final decision.
Stunningly shot, “Unmistaken Child” is a beguiling, surprising, touching, even humorous experience.
While the film brings to light a rarely seen aspect of the Buddhist faith, the true revelation is the journey of Tenzin the man. Modest, shy, but with a delightfully impish sense of humor, we come to know a man who appears to be of another time and place and yet is profoundly living in the present. Alone on his quest, he is only able to share his thoughts and feelings with filmmaker Baratz and his simple honesty and unselfconsciousness make the viewer a privileged partner in Tenzin’s passage to the next phase of his remarkable life.
“My interest in Tibetans started back in 1993, while backpacking in Tibet,” said director Nati Baratz. “The Tibetan Lamas looked to me like the embodiment of wisdom and compassion and reminded me of ancient Greek philosophers. The humble, non-violent and happy nature of the Tibetan people touched me in a very unique way. It was followed by a strong feeling of moral responsibility to help preserve this extraordinary culture. Since then I have had a great desire to share all this with others.”
“In 2002, I traveled to Tibet with my wife Liat. During our last month, we cycled 800 kilometers from Tibet’s capital city Lhasa to Katmandu, Nepal to attend a one-month course at Kopan Monastery, so as to deepen our understanding of Tibetan Buddhism,” said Baratz. “At the end of the course, a monk named Tenzin Zopa came to talk about his life experience with his master, Geshe Lama Konchog, who had recently passed away. Tenzin spoke of his master with great love, and his big heart, modesty and humor were overwhelming.”
“If he had not concluded his talk with a request from us to pray for the swift return of his master’s reincarnation, it could have been just another inspiring night in Asia, but it was not. I could not sleep the whole night, realizing that this great young man was actually searching for his master’s reincarnation. This was a story that had to be turned into a movie.”
Mike Hale from The New York Times says “Unmistaken Child” is “rich in drama and in the glimpses it gives of other worlds." Alissa Simon from Variety calls the film “a fascinating insider's perspective … captures the beauty in wild nature and elaborate Buddhist rites and rituals." And the Boston Globe applauds the film as a “poignant piece of non-fiction filmmaking … manages to be as graceful as its subject is divine."
" ‘Unmistaken Child’ inevitably leads you to consider the material world and to contemplate the balance in your own life between physical gratification and spirituality. The rugged landscape, in which mist filters through craggy cliffs and wild flowers seem to dance in the mountain meadows, suggests that religion and geography are profoundly intertwined," said Stephen Holden with The New York Times.
The title sponsor for the event is The Goldenstein Gallery. The series is also made possible by grants from the Arizona Commission on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts and the City of Sedona.
“Unmistaken Child” will be shown at Harkins Sedona Six Theatres on Tuesday, Sept. 15 at 4:00 and 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $10, or $8 for Film Sedona members, and will be available starting at 3:00 p.m. that day in the Harkins lobby. Cash or checks only. Film Sedona members can purchase tickets in advance at the Sedona International Film Festival office, 1785 W. Hwy. 89A, Suite 2B, or by calling 282-1177.
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