2014 Venice Buddhist Film Festival

| February 6, 2014

The theme for the 2014 Venice Buddhist Film Festival is “Exile.” The Film Festival will run on four consecutive Sundays, Feb. 9 through Mar. 2, from 1:00PM-3:30PM, at the Venice Hongwanji Buddhist Temple.

Feb. 9: Sansho Dayu

In mediaeval Japan a compassionate governor is sent into exile. His wife and children try to join him, but are separated, and the children grow up amid suffering and oppression. — IMDb

Winner of the Venice Film Festival Silver Lion Award (1954)


Feb. 16: Behold A Pale Horse

Manuel Artiguez, a famous bandit during the Spanish civil war, has lived in French exile for 20 years. When his mother is dying he considers visiting her secretly in his Spanish home town. But his biggest enemy, the Spanish police officer Vinolas, prepared a trap at the hospital as a chance to finally catch Artiguez. — IMDB

Behold A Pale Horse - Trailer


Feb. 23: The New World

As spring arrives, Powhatan realizes the English do not intend to leave. Discovering his daughter’s actions [Pocahontas brings food, clothing, and supplies to the starving English settlers], he orders an attack on Jamestown and exiles Pocahontas. Repulsing the attack, the settlers learn of Pocahontas’ banishment. They organize a trade so that the young woman can be taken captive and used as leverage to avoid further assaults. — Wikipedia

The New World - Trailer - HQ


Mar. 2: With the support of the Venice Japanese American Memorial Marker committee, there will be three special screenings with a panel discussion afterwards.

  • Of Civil Wrongs and Rights: The Fred Korematsu Story (2000). A documentary directed by Eric Paul Fournier. With Fred Korematsu, Rosa Parks, Bill Clinton. Traces Korematsu’s defiance of Executive Order 9066, his U.S. Supreme Court case of 1944, and his 1983 appeal. (trailer)
  • Music Man of Manzanar (2007). A documentary directed by Brian Maeda. With Arnold Maeda and Lou Frizzell, who taught music and drama at the high school in Manzanar during WWII.
  • A trailer for “We Said NO NO,” a work in progress. Directed by Brian Maeda. A documentary about the Tule Lake Segregation Center in Northern California for “no no boys” and their families.

Panel of speakers with opportunity for questions and answers:

  • Arnold Maeda, exiled to Manzanar from Santa Monica
  • Bill Nishimura, “no-no boy” exiled from Poston to Tule Lake to Santa Fe to Crystal City
  • Hank Iwamoto, whose family self-exiled to Colorado and Oklahoma
  • Brian Maeda, born in Manzanar, filmmaker and supporter of Manzanar Committee and Manzanar Pilgrimage

No reservations are required. Admission is free; suggested $5 donation per person each Sunday to support the VHBT Buddhist Education Committee. Free parking in lot and on streets.

For more information about the Venice Hongwanji Buddhist Film Festival, visit the film festival’s Facebook page or contact Richard Modiano.

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