Anitya: Reflections on Impermanence

Anitya will be a meditative, lyrical and poetic documentary on the concept of impermanence, and at the same time a reflection on the life and the death of a spiritual teacher, Shamar Rinpoche.

Anitya is the fourth feature film by award-winning director|producer Shahin Parhami, who is known for his creative documentaries on art and artists who are marginalized in the societies in which they live and work. He has already shot many hours of footage of Shamar Rinpoche over the last 10 years, and now he's ready to dive into the next stages of production and post-production.

 



Detailed Proposal

 On June 11, 2014, the 14th Shamarpa Mipham Chokyi Lodro passed into Parinirvana.  He was the 14th incarnation of the second oldest incarnate lineage of Tibet, lineage holder of the Karma Kagyu, and a uniquely brilliant teacher and thinker. I first met him in 2005, and until he passed away I had the opportunity to meet him many times in many different parts of the world.  He warmly shared his presence, his world, and opened the doors of his centres and monasteries to me.  We often discussed his interest in art and cinema in different cultures, and his curiosity about different faiths. He told me often that he believed that all Iranians are Buddhist at heart! 

 He commissioned me to document important sites and materials associated with the 10th Karmapa in Tibet, photos that appeared later in his important book, A Golden Swan in Turbulent Waters.  He also granted me permission to film and photograph him, to interview him, to document aspects of his daily life.  Many of his disciples also granted me permission to interview them. 





 Of course I always believed that this would be a long ongoing project, never imagining he would pass away so soon.  Now I have a wonderful archive of interviews and images from Nepal, India and the United States that span nine years of his life.  This priceless footage should not stay on the shelf.  I wish to be able to fully dedicate the coming six months to organizing and processing all the material I have, to collecting more archival footage, and then selecting and finally conceptualizing and editing a poetic, meditative documentary about this extraordinary teacher, his extraordinary activities, and the devotion of a few of his disciples. 





 Since the terrible, destructive earthquake in Nepal on April 25, 2015, many of the images I have of Shamar Rinpoche are even more poignant, as the places where I filmed him have now themselves either disappeared completely or been radically transformed.  That is why I am tentatively naming this project Anitya, the beautiful Sanskrit word for impermanence, as this film will also be a contemplation on the pain and inevitability of change. 

 Please take a look at the 7-minute trailer I composed to get a sense of the style I will be working in.  I am interested in the power of subtlety, and in experimenting with alternative forms of story telling. In order to attain the mood and atmosphere I want to create in this film the narrative will be carried by a poetic juxtaposition of images, dialogues, monologues, texts, light, colour, texture and sounds. I have always challenged myself to structure and produce works in impressionistic and abstract forms in order to provide more freedom of interpretation for the audience.

 What I wish to accomplish with this project artistically is to provide the audience an audio visual experience, a meditative journey in the company of Shamar Rinpoche.

 I am an experienced documentary filmmaker.  My work has been screened in international festivals around the world, and has in the past been focussed on artists from marginalized communities (www.shahinparhami.info/index.html; www.imdb.com/name/nm4166030/). Since my films are not made for TV and the mainstream media outlets where traditional sources of funding are usually available, I am seeking support through this crowd  funding website and started this campaign.

 This project on Shamar Rinpoche will be my homage to this brilliant, dynamic, spontaneous and joyful man, a man like no one I have ever met before. 

 



 What We Need & What You Get

 Making an independent feature documentary in such a style and genre is a massive challenge. To date, I have financed the shooting stage, and with the support of individuals like Dr. Lara Braitstein and the generous support of Shamar Rinpoche and his centers, the initial research and filming has been done. Now, we need additional funds for shooting more images post Rinpoche’s passing, and post-earthquake Kathmandu.  Further we are seeking to cover acquiring costs for archival footage that will be incorporated in the film. So far we have estimated a budget of  $20 000 CDN ($15000 USD).  

Your contribution will go towards the production and post-production costs, including:

 •   Research, Archival Footage, Last Stages of Production & Post-Production

•   Music, Sound Design & Mix

•   Color Correction and Deliverables

•   Marketing, Festival Submissions and Promotional Materials

•   Fulfilling your GoFundMe Perks  

•   Paying for GoFundMe fees


The help of art and cultured minded people like you, is a tremendous help for bringing this project to life.