From Buddha's Lost Children Revisited. Courtesy image
Remember the first year of the Salem Film Festival? Remember when we didn’t even know if we were actually going to pull it off in just a few short months?
Our questions included: Is it going to be all documentary? Will audiences come out in the dead of winter? Will we get all the work done in time?
A few interested members of the Salem community and the greater North Shore would meet at the CinemaSalem cafe during the fall and winter of 2008 and stare at festival founders Joe Cultrera and Paul Van Ness with an expression of “We really gonna do this?” And we did!
That year, excited audiences turned up, filmmakers flew in from L.A. and New York and we felt, well, giddy. Right from the beginning, Joe Cultrera and his volunteer selection committee established themselves as having a gift for picking wonderful films.
That year, European producer Ton Okkerse sent a quick videoed THANK YOU from Logan Airport (I think from his phone), upon news of winning Salem’s Audience Award with his beautiuful film BUDDHA’S LOST CHILDREN.
This year, audiences will be interested in journeying back to check in on how the characters from that film have fared. BUDDHA’S LOST CHILDREN REVISITED is making its U.S. premiere right here in Salem.
Just goes to show that in three short years we’ve created something real, something respected and something to be proud of…
BUDDHA’S LOST CHILDREN REVISITED film description:
In the hills of Northern Thailand’s Golden Triangle former Thai boxer, turned Buddhist monk, Khru Bah travels on horseback dispensing prayers and tough-love.
His Golden Horse Temple is orphanage, school and clinic — a haven for the children of the region, who see him as a shaman, father figure and coach. Two years after his original visit, Director Mark Verkerk returns to see how the “Tiger Monk” and his young novices are faring. Lushly photographed, this is a sequel filled with familiar faces.
– Dinah Cardin
