Geleck Palsang

Amala tells the story of the Dalai Lama’s younger sister Jetsun Pema, her struggles, loss and success that earned her the epithet Amala or ‘mother’. Using rare footage from her historic visit to Tibet in 1980, the film also gives insight on the state of education inside Tibet. After her sister died, she took charge of the Nursery for Tibetan Refugee Children in a small town in northern India. Under her leadership, the nursery transformed into one of the most successful Tibetan refugee schools – the Tibetan Children’s Village schools (TCV).

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Filmed over six years, this stark documentary concerns Fathima, a young Shia Muslim girl from a village in the Indian Himalayas, who is suddenly possessed by a Buddhist spirit. The inexplicable phenomenon breeds hostility within her community, leading to an attempt on her life. After meeting with several Buddhist masters, Fathima undertakes a journey to Kargil, Leh and Dharamsala where, in a trance, she speaks Tibetan—a language unknown to her—and is recognised as the medium for a major Buddhist deity. Upon her return home, Fathima faces a personal struggle of identity and belief.

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