11 DAY EVENT ATTRACTS OVER 15,000 ATTENDEES; PUBLIC EVENTS DRAW 50,000

The 2008 International Buddhist Film Festival (IBFF) closed out its 11 day run last night with sold out events all over Mexico City. This was the first IBFF in Latin America, and it attracted over 15,000 ticket holders and was featured in dozens of news stories on television, radio and print. In addition, two public events in the Zocalo, the main civic square, drew an estimated 50,000 attendees.

IBFF's local presentation partner is Samaya Foundation, an independent cultural organization based in Mexico City. For more information, the local media contact in Mexico City is: Claudia del Castillo claudia.delcastillo@consecuencias.net.

Please visit Events for more information.

Dutch to submit Buddha’s Lost Children for Oscar^® Consideration

25 August 2007
The film Buddha’s Lost Children will be the official Netherlands’ submission to the 2007 Academy Awards^® in the best documentary category. Buddhist Film Society, Inc. is the U.S. fiscal sponsor for the project, produced by Pim Van Collem and Ton Okkerse, and directed by Mark Verkerk.

The film explores the world of Buddhist monk Khru Bah, a former Thai boxer who has made his remote monastery into a home for orphans and boys from poor mountain families, who he teaches to box, ride horses, meditate and grow.

Buddha’s Lost Children has won a number of international film festival honors, including the 2006 AFI Festival Best Documentary Award, and has drawn over 40,000 viewers to cinemas in the Netherlands, where it played for 30 straight weeks. The film was recently presented at a sold-out screening of the 2007 International Buddhist Film Festival (IBFF) in Singapore, and is currently in theatrical release in the U.S.

The Academy Award^® nominations will be announced on January 22, 2008. The award ceremony will take place on February 24th.