Sat, May 08, 2004 page16

• Living life through film

  Anika Tokarchuk's documentary on the making of `The Cup' by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche turned out to be a journey of cinematic enlightenment

  • By Diana Freundl and Wang Hsiao-wen / CONTRIBUTING REPORTER
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  Why does one go to the cinema? For some, it is to escape the reality of life. For Anika Tokarchuk, cinema is the reality of her life. For the past six years, her existence has revolved around the shifting images, sounds, and characters on the screen. Recently, the Canadian filmmaker who is now living in Taipei debuted her documentary, Life as Cinema, on Public Television Service (PTS, 公視) in Taiwan.

  What started off in 1998 as a documentary on the making of The Cup by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche led Tokarchuk on a journey from Canada through Europe, India and finally to Taiwan. Her project has turned into a three-part series, drawing on support from respected members of the Taiwanese film industry and various buddhist organizations.

  "This documentary started off as Rinpoche's idea," Tokarchuk said. "Of course, I really was excited about it, but I had no idea how incredible and how wild the adventure would be. I've lived through this whole amazing experience while making this film, and by doing so I think it has molded the character of the film."

  

  Stills from Anika Tokarchuk's documentary life as Cinema

  PHOTO COURTESY OF ANIKA TOKARCHUK,IMAGE LANTERN PICTURES LTD

  At first, the road was smooth. With a conditional approval for funding through the Canadian film and television industry, Tokarchuk left to begin shooting in India. Six months later, however, on the same day she received permission to interview the Dalai Lama, the offer for funding was unexpectedly withdrawn. Having explored all avenues for financial support before leaving Canada, Tokarchuk felt returning was not an option. To make things worse, she had only US$200 remaining and no return flight.

  "It really felt like a dead end to go back. And plus I had my film 80 percent made, it's kind of like if you are seven months pregnant you can't have an abortion, you have to go through with it," she said.

  Contemplating her next move, Tokarchuk remained in Dharamshala, where she met a number of individuals teaching English in north-east Asia. Taiwan, a prosperous English teaching market and a country with a growing relationship with Tibet -- both in funding and number of dharma students -- seemed to offer the best environment for Anika's film.

  

  PHOTO COURTESY OF ANIKA TOKARCHUK,IMAGE LANTERN PICTURES LTD

  A coincidental meeting with the well-known Taiwanese director, Stan Lai (賴聲川) -- who would later become the creative producer on the film -- also helped put Taiwan on her travel plan. With Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche's encouragement and a possible contact in Taipei, she sold her laptop and purchased a flight to Taiwan.

  Two years went by and Tokarchuk took up residence in Taiwan as an English teacher. After earning enough money to furbish her own home film studio, she was ready to begin the arduous job of editing. An increasingly visible future slowly emerged through a web of connections, one of which is Hung Hung (鴻鴻), a prominent Taiwanese documentary-maker.

  Associate director of Life as Cinema, Hung encouraged

  

  PHOTO COURTESY OF ANIKA TOKARCHUK,IMAGE LANTERN PICTURES LTD

  Tokarchuk to "go wild" with the 200-hours of footage. "It is much more than a film to her," said Hung, "It is a journey of discovery and the Buddhist dharma that she was practicing through the making of this film. She needed to continue, to finish the project."

  Hung said that, to some people, the film might be too experimental in its approach. "Some films need to be seen twice to be understood," he said, implying it's not easy to digest a real meal after being fed junk food for so long.

  Sylvia Feng (馮賢賢), executive producer at PTS, said striking a balance between the artists' vision and the audience's needs was difficult. She said that though the film was not commercial, it was a cinematic achievement and offered a profound philosophical view. "In her film, the screen becomes the place where the mind unfolds itself." .

  

  PHOTO COURTESY OF ANIKA TOKARCHUK,IMAGE LANTERN PICTURES LTD

  One scene in the documentary covers a discussion held at the famed Wisteria Tea House in Taipei. Feng said, "No Taiwanese photographer could capture the aura of Wisteria Tea House [a popular meeting place for"intellectuals'] better than Anika [Tokarchuk] ... her visualization of the intellectual culture in Taipei may spark enlightenment for Taiwanese directors."

  The appreciation of Tokarchuk's film, however, goes beyond just artistic or intellectual circles. The Hao Ran Foundation (浩然基金會) has also helped out Tokarchuk's project since 2002. Hao Ran Executive Director Lin Ming-Hong (林明宏) said, "It was a joy to provide financial backing for a film rooted in such deep philosophical reflection."

  Another supporter, Su-Jei Own (翁仕杰), deputy secretary-general of the Taiwan Tibet Exchange Foundation (台藏交流基金會), views the film through the lens of Tibetan Buddhism. Crediting Anika with peeling away layers of realities in her documentary, Own said life itself was a phantasmagoria -- the reason why we are captives of illusion, fiction, and films.

  

  Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche reflects on the nature of impermanence of in Anika Tokarchuk's documentary.

  PHOTO COURTESY OF ANIKA TOKARCHUK, IMAGE LANTERN PICTURES LTD

  Tokarchuk's experience of making the film changed her perceptions, as she thought they would. "The experience that I've gone through has been my version of living through the themes in Life as Cinema. It really has been this experience of living in this amazing reality."
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