The Journey from Zanskar

A Film by Frederick Marx

Brief Summary- The 'heart of the film' revolved around perserving the culture & traditions of the dying Tibetan Buddhism.

•Perservation was done through educating the young.

- They gathered children (ages varied) from poor families to go on this Journey from Zanksar to become monks.

•"The monks are building a school to educate the children from surrounding villages in their own language, culture, history, and religion."

- Ultimately those on the journey were able to meet the Dalai Lama.

Central Message-The dedication of these monks: to educate the young children, to hike such a distance; these selfless actions were done in hopes to carry on their culture’s tradition.

- This was communicated through the cameras ‘eyes’ by showing the audience the long and enduring quest they were all on, for this one mission.

Filmmaker’s Goal-I think Frederick Marx’s goal was for the audience to leave the theatre with the understanding and acknowledgment of the great lengths the people of Zanskar & the monks went to in order to extend the practice of their customs and values/morals.

- I believe he wanted was to feel two things:

1. Inspired to learn of other cultures, to help the preservation of them, and to understand other cultures & customs.

2. Informed of their Dedication – children devoted their lives to this one mission for their culture’s sake.

The Strengths/Weaknesses

Strengths: He was great at showing the long commute from point A to B and the hard work and struggle that accompanies this. He shined light on how many of these children had never had the privilege of being in a car. It showed how different our cultures are, globally, and worth getting to know.Weaknesses: From my point of view, I didn’t think their was enough focus on how much of the actual education was being done, aside from how they all worked together to accomplish their goal.

Essential QuestionsHow have human choices had a local & global Impact?

- By having children travelling together, working off of each other, learning together, all to preserve their culture.

- Being brought to Dharamsala to meet His Holiness, the Dalai Lama.

- The decision to pursue a certain education can impact people locally and globally if you’re pursuing them. In this case, it helped make others aware of this dying custom.

Questions left Answered...The essential Question: “Is truth dependent upon place, culture, and time?”

This question is still left unresolved in my mind. Although, in this case if a truth for one culture is different for another, I could assume that truth is, in general, relative to it’s surroundings.

Realization of Relativity- This film is inspirational in many senses. You realize the difference of determination among different cultures, the difference in values, the difference in a way of life. It causes you to re-look your life and analyze ways you, as well, could better the community we all live in. Every is relative, and in that sense, dependent upon one’s culture & time.