MY REINCARNATION







MY REINCARNATION

a film by Jennifer Fox

a co-production of Zohe Films, LICHTBLICK FILM and Ventura Film
in collaboration with Buddhist Broadcasting Foundation, ZDF/arte, RSI, YLE-1
in association with Impact Partners, Hartley Film Foundation, Buddhist Film Society, GDF Foundation, Tides Foundation


SYNOPSIS
For twenty years, award winning documentary filmmaker Jennifer Fox has been following the high Tibetan master, Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche and his Italian-born son Yeshi, with her camera. The result is the astounding feature-length documentary, MY REINCARNATION, which tells the compelling inside story of one of the last reincarnate teacher to be trained in Tibet and his son’s stubborn reluctance to follow in his father's footsteps. Rinpoche escaped Tibet in 1959 and settled in Italy, where he married and had two children, of which Yeshi was the first. Yeshi was recognized as the reincarnation of a famous spiritual master, who died after the Chinese invaded Tibet. But Yeshi grew up in Italy and never wanted to have anything to do with this legacy. He didn’t want to be a teacher like his father, nor did he want to return to Tibet and the monastery of his reincarnation, to meet the students waiting for him since his birth. Instead, he dreamed of a normal life, away from the hoards of devotees that always surrounded his father. This conflict between father and son combine to make a universal drama that taps into the classic narrative of inheritance. As the story progresses, we see Yeshi mature from 18 years old to 38 years old; and Rinpoche age from his 50 year-old prime to 70 years old and illness. But as time moves forward, both father and son begin to change, giving MY REINCARNATION the scope and depth of great drama.  


TEAM
Writer/Director, Producer,
Camera
Jennifer Fox
Co-Producers Carl-Ludwig Rettinger
Andres Pfaeffli
Elda Guidinetti
Commissioning Editors BOS - Babeth VanLoo
ZDF/arte - Anne Even
RSI - Silvana Bezzola, Luisella Realini
YLE-1 - Errki Astala
Editor Sabine Krayenbuhl
Music Composer Jan Tilman Schade
with Moe Jaksch