Official UK Trailer for Acclaimed Meditative Film ‘Samsara’ Set in Laos
by Alex Billington
December 12, 2023
Source: YouTube
“The world opens to those who open up to it.” Curzon in the UK has unveiled a trailer for an acclaimed film called Samsara, described as a “highly immersive and meditative film by artist and director Lois Patiño.” Not to be confused with Ron Fricke’s meditative globe-spanning documentary also called Samsara (2012). The term “saṃsāra” is actually a Pali/Sanskrit word that means “wandering” as well as “world,” wherein the term connotes “cyclic change” or, less formally, “running around in circles.” In the temples of Laos, teenage monks accompany a soul in transit from one body to another through the bardo. A luminous and sonorous journey leads to reincarnate on the beaches of Zanzibar, where groups of women work in seaweed farms. Berlinale adds: “In this conversation held on the border between life, death & meditation, Patiño continues his exploration of the image as an immersive experience. [As with films] by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, the cycle of birth, death and reincarnation coincides with the experience of watching. The act of seeing and of telling stories becomes a unique visionary experience that literally leads the viewer into another dimension.”
Here’s the first official UK trailer (+ poster) for Lois Patiño’s Samsara, direct from YouTube:
Intro from Berlinale: “Laos. Dozens of teenagers are living and studying together in Buddhist temples. A young man crosses the river every day to read a text to an elderly woman that serves as a guide for finding one’s way through the afterlife. When the woman dies, her spirit begins a sensory journey towards reincarnation in its next body. To complete the journey, you have to entrust yourself to be carried away by the sound and light.” Samsara (2023) is directed by the Spanish artist / filmmaker Lois Patiño, director of the film Red Moon Tide, and also the doc Coast of Death previously, along with many other short films. The screenplay is written by Garbiñe Ortega and Lois Patiño. It’s produced by Leire Apellaniz. The film initially premiered at the 2023 Berlin Film Festival earlier this year. Curzon will release Patiño’s Samsara film in UK cinemas + on VOD starting January 26th, 2024. No US release date is set yet – stay tuned. Worth a look?
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