In this film, Buddhist monks prepare for a ritual in which they ask a deity for luck and prosperity. The ritual is performed in the filmmaker’s village in Eastern Tibet. The film offers a rare study of one of the most important tasks in preparing a Tibetan ritual, the making of torma, elaborate sculptures made from dough and decorated with colored butter. Depicting a variety of kinds of torma, from those that are used to expel harmful spirits to those that are made to be homes for deities, the film shows the integration of these objects into a family’s life.
Filmed entirely in Tibetan regions of China.
Director: Wendekar
Cinematographer: Wendekar
Subtitles: Wendekar and Andrew Erlich
Creative and Executive Producer: Frances Garrett
Length: 34:54 minutes
Funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Tibetan and Himalayan Library