Movies: Buddhist monk

Mu-ok is the self-made owner of the established restaurant 'Pyongmanok' that has been drawing long lines of customers before social media existed. He is deeply troubled by his only son, Moon-seok, whom he hoped would inherit the family legacy, becomi...

How do you reconcile a commitment to non-violence when faced with violence? Why do the poor often seem happier than the rich? Must a society lose its traditions in order to move into the future? These are some of the questions posed to His Holiness t...

When Danish filmmakers Mira Jargil and Christian Sønderby Jepsen try to find balance in their stressful lives, they seek guidance from a renowned Danish HIV researcher turned monk deep in the mountains of Sri Lanka. But their filming process goes dif...

To address the social crisis, Chiken - a buddhist monk - throws himself into various tasks such as a suicide helpline, in his temple in Yamanashi. In Fukushima, his old mate Ryûgyô - whose temple was wrecked by the tsunami - lives in a portacabin and...

Story of four young monks left alone in their remote monastery in Myanmar. Shot entirely in newly-opened Myanmar with non-actors, the film bridges spirit, cinema, and traditional Burmese storytelling to open a view onto an unseen world....

Saiko travels to Thailand but she jumps out of the cab after knowing the driver's intentions. However, her life changes after she meets Greg....

Formerly a troubled youth, a monk is given charge of a Buddhist temple that is neglected by superstitious villagers who are under the spell of a fake psychic....

Four men from a nomadic Tibetan tribe undertake their annual, ritualistic pilgrimage to a sacred salt lake. Salt gathered in this traditional fashion will be sold to provide the economic livelihood of the tribe for the coming year. The journey, neces...

Angdu is no ordinary boy. Indeed, in a past life he was a venerated Buddhist master. His village already treats him like a saint as a result. The village doctor, who has taken the boy under his wing, prepares him to be able to pass on his wisdom. Ala...

Follows three young Tibetans faced with moral dilemmas: a rising pop star asked by her Chinese official boyfriend to sing pro-government songs; her brother, an embittered drunk; and their cousin, a Buddhist nun savagely beaten after shouting anti-Chi...

With both beauty and wit, Maiko looks for a man who suits her. One night, she finds Taro, a candidate for the prime minister. Everything goes well as she plans, but he finds out she's actually a "youma" who destroys the country. What's their destiny?...

When a homeless boy living at the youth shelter run by a Buddhist monastery turns up dead, the Abbot recruits Father Ananda, a former policeman, to find out why. He discovers that all is not well at this urban monastery in the heart of Bangkok. Toget...

In 2014, Tsai Ming-Liang was invited to make a film for the MarseilleFID, Marseille International Film Festival. Since he was not familiar with Marseille, he decided to make a film as tourist, capturing the beautiful Mediterranean sunshine in the lat...

Chim-Ae, an orphan, is saved by an old monk of Seo San Temple, Mu Bul Dang while he is wandering in war fires. Then he enters the priesthood and trains himself a mountaineering asceticism. When he becomes an eminent young priest, the last trial to re...

Weaving together original film and photographic archives, A CLOUD NEVER DIES tells the story of a humble young Vietnamese monk and poet whose wisdom and compassion were forged in the suffering of war. In the face of violence, fear, and discrimination...

A thousand-year-old snake that has transformed itself into a human, Madame White Snake (Choe Eun-hui), falls in love with a young pharmacist named Heo-Seon. Although they encounter difficulties, they are wed, and their love for each other does not ch...

Saitarn, a retired post-op transsexual, falls in love with a local mechanic. Tonmai has inherited a gay cabaret bar from his father. And Din is a high school boy whom his father found out to be a trans. His father sends him upcountry to be ordained h...

Chandar is a black leopard who lives near the beach of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) together with his mother and his sister....

Peyangki is a dreamy and solitary eight-year-old monk living in Laya, a Bhutanese village perched high in the Himalayas. Soon the world will come to him: the village is about to be connected to electricity, and the first television will flicker on be...

Four monks, a royal scholar, and their American guru are fighting to save Bhutan's sacred arts while learning the art of letting go....