Most of us think of death as something clear-cut, and that medical science has it neatly figured out. This feature documentary explodes such assumptions through its exploration of a phenomenon that blurs life and death to an unprecedented degree. In what Tibetan Buddhists call tukdam, advanced meditators die in a consciously controlled manner. Though dead according to our biomedical standards, they often stay sitting upright in meditation; remarkably, their bodies remain fresh and lifelike, without signs of decay for days, sometimes weeks after clinical death. Following ground-breaking American scientific research into tukdam and taking us into intimate death stories of Tibetan meditators, the film juxtaposes scientific and Tibetan perspectives as it tries to unravel the mystery of tukdam.
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Festival Appearances
Galway Film Fleadh 2022
Helsinki International Film Festival 2022
Mill Valley Film Festival, USA 2022
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Donagh Coleman
Finnish-Irish-American filmmaker Donagh Coleman holds degrees in Philosophy, Psychology, and Music and Media Technologies from Trinity College Dublin, and a Master’s degree in Asian Studies from the University of California Berkeley. Previous films with wide international festival and TV exposure include the award-winning documentaries, Stone Pastures (2008) and A Gesar Bard’s Tale (2013). Donagh’s films have also been screened at MoMA and the Rubin Museum of Art in New York, and by the European Commission. Donagh is currently doing a PhD in medical anthropology at UC Berkeley, continuing his research on tukdam.
Sun, 6 Nov | 10:00 am | Main Audi
