Film Festival 09 - The Unmistaken Child
The Unmistaken Child
Ha-gilgul, Israel 2008, 104m
Director: Nati Baratz
Festivals: Toronto 2008; San Francisco 2009
As intrepid as his subject, filmmaker Nati Baratz documents the
four-year search for a reincarnated Tibetan Buddhist master through
the eyes of a sincere and passionate disciple. After years of
isolation, Lama Konchoq was declared the Greatest Tibetan Meditator
of our time. At the end of 2001 he passed away. Tenzin Zopa, who,
by his own account, sought him out in preference to his own family
at the age of seven and served him for the next 21 years, is
appointed by the Dalai Lama to lead the search for the
reincarnation of his late Master. The 'Unmistaken Child' must be
found within infancy. The ensuing quest, guided by funereal
auguries and astrological consultation, takes Tenzin back to his
own origins in the spectacular Tsum Valley of Nepal. We watch the
touchingly sweet-natured servant become a dogged spiritual pilgrim
- all the while seeking to become a servant again once the boy is
found. Believers and non-believers alike will surely find this a
most fascinating and unpredictably emotional expedition. - Bill
Gosden.
In English, Tibetan, Nepali, Hindu and Taiwanese, with English
subtitles
