SYNOPSIS: Tibetan Women Refugees

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"BHUMAI - She Who Can Not Be Abadoned" on Tibetan women refugees is a one-hour documentary profiling Tibetan women refugees' lives in India, Nepal, and the United States in digital video. It includes rare footage shot in the Tibet Autonomous Region, China, historical footage and photographs. Many documentaries have been done on the Dalai Lama and Buddhism, but only "Bhumai - looks at the role women refugees play in Tibetan cultural survival. An exclusive and delightful interview with the Dalai Lama on Tibetan women and his mom is included.

"BHUMAI - She Who Can Not Be Abandoned" is a personal look at how women perceive their own lives compared with that of their mothers and daughters.

It foretells the continuing viability of traditional Tibetan culture-in-exile. This is a rare look at the indigenous knowledge Tibetan women hold in their culture. The documentary explores the changing role of women in refugee communities: the old social patterns that support women and children in settlements: their religion and spiritual culture, and the possibilities for achieving social and economic security.

The viewer witnesses diverse locations and events: Tibetan carpet factories in Nepal; Government-in-Exile sponsored nunneries; the Tibetan Children's Village; a suburban home in L.A.; remote village settlements; a traditional wedding in Kathmandu; the only female astrologer in the Tibetan Institute of Medicine and Astrology; and refugee women at the UN Women's Conference in Beijing. Never seen before footage of a Tibetan funeral and weddings make this an exotic and visually stimulating documentary.

Tibetan refugees must adapt to difficult circumstances to survive. Speaking a different language, with their own customs, and racially different than the host population, Tibetans find themselves in an alien world - vulnerable to theft, graft, and forcible return to Tibet.

Tibetan women tell us their stories.

Credit List: Executive Producer: James Anderson; Producer: Roslyn Dauber; Director, Writer: Roslyn Dauber: Editors: David Emrich, Vicki Gratz, Duncan Burns.; Camera: Vanessa Smith, Tom Kelly, Duncan Burns, Leo Chang, James Eaton To see more about the documentary go to:

http://membersfreespeech.org/dfs

Contact Roslyn Dauber (303) 664 5011. [email protected] The International Documentary Association (IDA) and the Colorado University Foundation are our non-profit fiscal sponsors. 501( c)(3).