Samsara

A truly enchanting trip, Berlinale winner Samsara is a sensorial experiment that invites the audience to experience the Buddhist concept of birth, life, death, and rebirth. It commences in Laos at a Buddhist temple, where dozens of young disciples apprentice alongside monks. One of them crosses the river daily to read a text to a woman who serves as a psychopomp. When her time comes to depart this life, her spirit embarks on the path of reincarnation. The story continues on the other side of the world, on the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar, where we see a goat kid being born. But this only starts after filmmaker Lois Patiño presents the viewer with an awe-inspiring transitional section that can only be fully experienced with closed eyes. It transforms Samsara into more than a film—this is an unforgettable cinematic experience, which brings to mind the filmic world of Apichatpong Weerasethakul.

Screens with Mitayero by Kate Vinen before each screening of Samsara