with a post-screening discussion led by Vesna Wallace, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at UC Santa Barbara & Kalachakra scholar, on September 16
"As a visual metaphor for the impermanence of life, the magnificent, fragile Kalachakra sand mandala, also known as the wheel of time, is a kind of meticulously orchestrated mirage; first you see it, then you don't. A symbolic spiritual map for imagining the steps of enlightenment, its creation is a central ritual of the Kalachakra initiation, the 12-day process in which Tibetan Buddhist monks are ordained. Its assembly and eventual destruction—the sand is poured into a bag, then scattered as a blessing—is the cycle around which the German director Werner Herzog's absorbing documentary is structured. The mandela's creation is shown twice in the movie, first in Bodh Gaya, in northern India, where Mr. Herzog shot most of the film with a 16-millimeter camera in 2002, and then the following year at an exhibtion hall in Graz, Austria. On both occasions, the Dalai Lama is present...." (Stephen Holden, NY Times) more at wernerherzog.com Video projection
2005, color, 1 hour 20 minutes, Germany