Live newsfeed

Gallery

Owing to the efforts of our sponsors and our personal contributions, the filming stage is done and Daughters of Dolma is at its editing phase. However, before this feature-length documentary could reach your local film festival and personal DVD shelves, we need to cover post-production expenses exceeding our available funds:

• Film and Screenplay Rights
• Music Rights
• Film-editing Equipment and Paraphernalia
• Sound and Audio Mixing
• Website Layout, Design and Management
• Artwork and Design
• Film Festival Entry Fees
• Administrative Costs (legal consultation and release documents)

We have come this far. Help us tell you more about our journey through our film and reach international film festivals, cultural and religious institutions and university screenings. If you find our project valuable, then please support its release worldwide.

Support Daughters of Dolma! Donate and help the team release this worthwhile documentary

For information and donations, please contact:

Nadezhda Buhova

31 Albany Park
St Mary Street
St Andrews
KY16 8BP
United Kingdom

E-mail:
daughtersofdolma@gmail.com

Skype:
Daughters_of_Dolma

Privacy Policy

Aenean nec erosstibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia
Pendisse sollicitudin velit sed leo. Ut pharetra augue nec augue. Nam elit magna, hendrerit sit amet, tincidunt ac, viverra sed, nulla. Donec porta diam eu massa. Quisque diam lorem, interdum vitae, dapibus ac, scelerisque vitae, pede. Donec eget tellus non erat lacinia fermentum. Donec in velit vel ipsum auctor pulvinar. Proin ullamcorper urna et felis. Vestibulum iaculis lacinia est. Proin dictum elementum velit. Fusce euismod consequat ante. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Pellentesque sed dolor. Aliquam congue fermentum nisl. Mauris accumsan nulla vel diam. Sed in lacus ut enim adipiscing aliquet. Nulla venenatis. In pede mi, aliquet sit amet, euismod in, auctor ut, ligula. Aliquam dapibus tincidunt metus.

Praesent justo dolor, lobortis quis, lobortis dignissim, pulvinar ac, lorem
Vestibulum sed ante. Donec sagittis euismod purus. Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi consequatur.

E-mail: info@demolink.org

Live newsfeed

read more

Aenean nec erosstibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia
Pendisse sollicitudin velit sed leo. Ut pharetra augue nec augue. Nam elit magna, hendrerit sit amet, tincidunt ac, viverra sed, nulla. Donec porta diam eu massa. Quisque diam lorem, interdum vitae, dapibus ac, scelerisque vitae, pede. Donec eget tellus non erat lacinia fermentum. Donec in velit vel ipsum auctor pulvinar. Proin ullamcorper urna et felis. Vestibulum iaculis lacinia est. Proin dictum elementum velit. Fusce euismod consequat ante. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Pellentesque sed dolor. Aliquam congue fermentum nisl. Mauris accumsan nulla vel diam. Sed in lacus ut enim adipiscing aliquet. Nulla venenatis. In pede mi, aliquet sit amet, euismod in, auctor ut, ligula. Aliquam dapibus tincidunt metus.

back

Alexander Co

Team Leader, Business and Administrative Manager

Alex first conceived of the idea of filming in a Tibetan Buddhist nunnery in April 2010. It is a follow-up to his first book, entitled Essays by the Candlelight, written by Tibetan Buddhist monks in Nepal whom he stayed with in 2009. Knowing that a film will be able to reach and touch more people, he decided on documentary film as medium for this project. After facing rejections from several nunneries, his first team crumbling apart, and the constant feeling of uncertainty of seeing such an unusual project come to fruition, he formed a new team of dedicated and passionate students to bring the film to reality. He believes that spirituality, in its myriad forms and guises, can transform people for the better. Therefore, behind this film is his effort to inspire others along whatever spiritual paths they may be in to fully engage with it. His other motivation is to give greater voice to Tibetan Buddhist nuns, and how they are living their specific vocation.

back

Robin Buitendijk

Music Score

Robin was born in The Netherlands and grew up in an environment surrounded by music. At the age of fourteen Robin started playing the guitar and the piano. He then became particularly interested in recording music and writing his own songs and music pieces. In the following years, he was able to teach himself several recording techniques and was able to create his own musical style. In order to widen his knowledge in professional sound recording, Robin studied audio engineering at the SAE Institute in Rotterdam, where he successfully graduated in 2007. After traveling through California, New Zealand, Australia and Ireland for two years, Robin is now recording songs for his band, The Snake Charmers.

back

Adam Miklos

Director

Adam was born in Hungary but he finished his secondary school education in Austria. He started to make films at the age of sixteen. He has volunteered as an assistant cameraman at the BUSHO Short Film Festival and at the Student Short Film Festival in Budapest. To date, he has participated in various film festivals in Hungary, Romania and Scotland. His latest short film, the “Stranger’s Hand” was nominated for the best film award at the Half Cut Film Festival in St Andrews. Adam is currently taking up Film Studies in the University of St Andrews. He is the President of a student-run filmmaking group that is integrated into the University’s Film Department - the St Andrews Film Collective. He sees film as a great medium which can be used to convey meaningful messages. He especially likes films that raise rather than answer questions.

back

Nadezhda Buhova (Nadia)

Publicity Officer

Nadia has always been interested in philosophy, different cultures, and social polemics. She became a debater in the Bulgarian Debating Association and served as a volunteer in the Bulgarian Youth Red Cross in 2004. Since then, she has organized and participated in activities promoting human rights, minority rights, and environmental awareness in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, and the United Kingdom. Nadia is majoring in International Relations at the University of St Andrews in June 2012. Daughters of Dolma allowed her to combine two of her main interests- Buddhist philosophy and gender issues with her passion to explore and challenge.

back

Patricia Durdikova

Publicity Secretary

Patricia originally comes from Slovakia but she has attended a boarding school in England as an HMC scholar. She is fascinated by travelling, modern languages and exploring foreign cultures. She is currently sutdying towards an MA in French and Art History at the University of St Andrews. Over the years, she has shown flair for promoting and organising various charity events and worked as a promotional fundraiser. She is extremely versatile and in the past she got involved in numerous educational, environmental and other endeavours ranging from coordinating a fashion show, participating in an international British Council project, working as an advertising manager for a school enterprise, planning a charity pancake race, to being the Head of Sustainability. The documentary has caught her eye because she believes that it provides a truly unique, unparalleled and astounding portrayal of spiritual life of nuns as human beings.

back

Tenzin Dolma

Translator

Tenzin was born in Tibet and brought up in India and Nepal. She schooled in TCV (Tibetan Children's Village) in Dharamsala, India and did a year of English honours at Delhi University. She participated as a chapter member of Student for Free Tibet (SFT), Delhi in the same year. In 2009, Tenzin was awarded the Hugh E. Richardson Scholarship -an endeavour supported by H.H. the Dalai Lama- to study at the University of St Andrews for 4 years. Currently, she is majoring in Social Anthropology.

back

Stefan Salow

Production Manager

Stefan was born in Germany, but spent most of his childhood growing up in Mali and Tunisia. He is now a fourth year student at the University of St Andrews, majoring in Economics in June 2012. Throughout his years at the university he has also taken modules in film studies and has participated in several student-initiated films both as actor and producer. By growing up in three different countries of diverse traditions, and travelling or volunteering in different countries during holidays, Stefan has become deeply fascinated with different cultures and was eager to combine this with a second passion, films.

back

Katarzyna Bylow (Kasia)

Field Supervisor

Kasia's first encounter with Tibetan Buddhism took place in 2005, when she first visited Dharamsala in India. The visit resulted in a growing interest in the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and its contemporary forms in South Asia and South Asian diasporas around the world. Born and brought up in Poland, Kasia spend five years in Belgium, working as a conference interpreter for the European institutions in Belgium, France and the Netherlands. In 2009 she moved to Scotland and is currently a PhD candidate in Social Anthropology at the University of St Andrews. She is particularly interested in the nature of the continuous innovation and transformation of categorical social orders, in the creation and recreation of mythico-historical knowledge, and more generally, in human cognition as a historical process of adaptation to change, constituting and transforming ideas and practices.

back

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

This section of the site is still under construction. Please come back later.

back

our mission

At the present, the majority of films about Tibetan Buddhism focus primarily on male practitioners, interpretation of practices and Buddhist philosophy. The few documentaries concentrated on Tibetan Buddhism also mostly delineate their religious rituals and disciplines. Thus, the in-depth depiction of spirituality often crowds out the portrayal of nuns’ interests, insights, emotions, and non-spiritual activities. This incited our team consisting of six students from the University of St Andrews to make Daughters of Dolma- a documentary that peeks into how Buddhist philosophy is actually being lived out by contemporary female practitioners of various age groups, personalities and familial backgrounds. The goal of our film is to tell about the nuns reacting to modern influences, discussing the differing views among them, and the distinctions between the monastic generations.

Daughters of Dolma as a journey into an ancient tradition

Daughters of Dolma is the filmed narration of our expedition trip in Nepal in June 2011. We lived among Tibetan Buddhist nuns from Karma Ngoedhon Osal Choekhorling and Karma Samte Ling Nunneries in Nepal and together with them, we explored age, modernity, spirituality, journey and gender issues - our main themes of interest.

back next

With the nuns of Karma Ngoedhon Osal Choekhorling, we delved into the topics of female monastics, modernity and gender issues. The team asked nuns from different age groups about the choice of becoming a nun and its repercussions, the idea of “gender equality” in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, and the role of modern technologies in their spiritual lives. To enrich our insights on monasticism and spirituality, we also met with and interviewed some of the nuns’ parents and close relatives.

We captured more sweet peculiarities among the nuns of Karma Samte Ling Nunnery. This rather secluded nunnery provides the young nuns with a fusion of curricula consisting of Science, Mathematics, Social Studies, Tibetan, Nepali and English. Alongside academia, the nuns are disciplined enough to hold morning and afternoon prayer ceremonies in their prayer hall, clean the premises and also exude their artistic skills through sketches and paintings. These nuns captivated our hearts with their diligence, responsibility and creativity. These two distinctly different nunneries allowed us to film a unique perspective of Tibetan Buddhist monasticism as a particularly female vocation.

Daughters of Dolma is currently at its editing phase. To support the completion of this documentary, click the Contact Page.

back prev

Fiscal Supporters:

• University of St Andrews, Scotland, United Kingdom
• Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland, Scotland, United Kingdom
• Spalding Trust, England, United Kingdom
• Hugh Richardson Foundation, Scotland, United Kingdom

back next

Credits:

• Alexander Co, Team Leader, Business and Administrative Manager
• Adam Miklos, Director
• Tenzin Dolma, Translator
• Nadezhda Buhova, Publicity Officer
• Stefan Salow, Production Manager
• Katarzyna Bylow, Field Supervisor
• Robin Buitendijk, Music Score
• Patricia Durdikova, Publicity Secretary
• Prof. Mario Aguilar, Team Advisor
• Dr. Mattia Fumanti, Team Supervisor
• Dr. Robert Burgoyne, Team Supervisor
• Milen Hristov, Website Support
• Rowan Moore, Media Support

back prev

Special Thanks

The film-making team is grateful to all the people who believed in our project from its very beginning.

We reached so far because of your help. Thank you!

• Tomohiro Harada
• Lina
• Kate Reid
• Kaloyan Tsilev
• Esi Appiah-Anane
• Sarah Engstrand
• Sara Nilsson
• Wayne
• Pia Noel
• Alina Moldovan
• Sam Bugler
• Kati Kinnaird
• Ben Boymel
• Dylan James

Private Donors:

• Dobrin Stanev
• Kentaro Murase
• Erikk Hokensor
• Conrad Smith
• Armin Rauschenberger
• Zoe Miller
• Tucker Diego
• Lilybeth Go
• Martin Svorc
• Maureen MacIsaac
• Lucia Grajcarova

Dolma

Dolma is the Tibetan name of Tara, a Buddhist female deity, and means 'she who saves'. Dolma is regarded as a Bodhisattva of compassion and action. She is known as the mother of all buddhas. Our team felt that Dolma relates to the message we would like to convey via our movie and used her name in the documentary title.

One of the main legends about her origin as a bodhisattva tells a story of a young princess who lived in a different world millions of years ago. Her name is Jnanachandra. For a long time she makes offerings to the Buddha of that world in her determination to become a Buddha. After achieving a certain level of attainment, the princess is advised by monks to pray to be reborn as a male to progress her Enlightenment. “Nonsense.”, she replies.”What difference does the shape of the body matter? In fact, to dispel this incorrect notion from the minds of certain beings, I will forever be reborn as a female!”

The princess spends years in meditation and becomes Buddha. She believed that

back next

Here there is no man, there is no woman,
No self, no person, and no consciousness.
Labelling 'male' or 'female' has no essence,
But deceives the evil-minded world.

Her vow is:

There are many who desire Enlightenment
in a man's body, but none who work for the
benefit of sentient beings in the body of a
woman. Therefore, until samsara is empty, I
shall work for the benefit of sentient beings
in a woman's body!

back prev next

back prev

back

Downloads

Wallpapers
Wallpaper 1
Wallpaper 2
Wallpaper 3
Wallpaper 4

back