Frequently Asked Questions

Answers by Geoff Browne – Director, DOP, Writer

How long has it taken you to make this film?

It took me over three years.

Did the Tibetans mind you filming them?

No, everybody in Rinpoche’s village was very nice and eager to get involved. Some hadn’t seen a camera before so it was fun showing them, tricky however to tell them not to look into the lens when I was filming.

How was the translation done?

Well, my most important trip was in the Feb. 2003 when I went by myself without any translators or assistants. It was very hard. No one spoke English and I only know a tiny bit of Tibetan, like “let’s eat!”

I needed to film the scene where Rinpoche leaves the village for his pilgrimage, and I really wanted to get the feeling of him being followed out by his fellow monks, a feeling of togetherness and then I wanted to just show him and the beginning of his lonely journey.

So I needed to shoot this scene with about 200 monks. It was very challenging; I filmed Rinpoche here in Vancouver and told him to give a number of directions as to what I needed to shoot while in the village. i.e. the monks walking him out of the village for a day, etc. so I had Rinpoche speak my requests into my camera, so when I got to the village, I showed them Rinpoche, on the LCD monitor of my camera and they listened to what I needed. The problem was I never had him give the English translation after each request so I never knew which portion they were listening to. I just pointed and gestured hoping they knew what part I was trying to get shot.

Days past and we still hadn’t shot the departure scene so I began to get worried, each day pointing to the camera playing the tape. Finally one day after a long haul through the mountains we came to this incredible village, really in the middle of nowhere. It was incredible, like an old outpost. We arrived at a monastery and there were just over a hundred monks sitting out front. “Ok,” I thought this must be the day, but then I was worried because I thought the monks were only going to sit there. I tried demonstrating I need them to walk up the mountainside, suddenly they began to walk. I ran around like heck trying to get the shot. It was interesting; they had no idea what I was doing. The same problem happened with the three monks ridding to the cave where Rinpoche is meditating.

We rode far away from the village, I was hoping for snow. Anyway I shot a lot of footage, we stopped for a break and starting filming again. Towards the end of that session I realized one of the monks jumped on a totally different colored horse, we had to do it all again. Anyway we had laughs. It was very stressful.

What was your favorite part of shooting ?

My favorite time shooting was when I was staying with Rinpoche's aunt and uncle, the nomads. They were so great and enjoyable to be with. I just stayed with them myself and had them naturally live out their day, having them forget I was there documenting them. It was relaxing, and very eye-opening. After spending a few days with them on the different shoots the mother gave me her turquoise ring. I wear it everyday.

How was shooting through Nepal and India ?

Well, that was also very hectic. Luckily I was able to get sponsored by some nice hotels. I thought it was necessary, because my first day in India, coming down from Nepal, I was riding the train to Varanassi. We stopped in the middle of a field. It was beautiful, early morning light, silhouetted women walking in the distant. A great photo, so I quickly hoped of the train for a shot, when someone ran up and grabbed the camera right out of my hands!

They just kept running with it so I grabbed some rocks and chassed the guy, lots of people were sticking their heads out the window yelling as I ran along trying to catch the guy. Others chased with me, but as I gained on him I thought what am I going to do if I catch him, and just then as he darted across the tracks, he tripped, fell and dropped my camera, I was there to pick it up. Phew. It was a lesson, to keep all my precious Tibetan tapes close, and secure. Plus I was carrying all my gear in my backpack, everything tied around it, my tripod tapes, two SLR cameras, my dv cam and a super eight camera. It was very heavy and a lot to care for.

How did you find the monks to film in Nepal ?

Well let’s, ‘Call it Karma.’ I was in Lhasa trying to order some spicy noodles but I was obviously having some difficulties when a Tibetan guy, asked if I needed a hand. So we got talking, I told him about the film ECT. And he was eager to help me. We were the same age and got along very well. So after spending some time together we decided to go hiking and camp up one of the holy mountains Rinpoche arrived at before coming to Lhasa. It was a deadly hike. We got off track and I remember hanging off a cliff with my incredibly heavy bag. We had no ropes because we were in this position by accident; it was over a three hundred foot drop below me. I remember looking down, and hoping that when I fall, I hope to hit my head on the way down so I would be out of it for the descent. How we managed to scale up the rest of the way for two hours still puzzles me.

Anyway that was an incredible night. I got some awesome shots, we hung out ate yak meat, drank butter tea, and slept totally surrounded by stars. We didn’t have a tent and we were at the top of this platform, so the stars were straight out at my feet and overhead. It was incredible. The next morning I woke up for our sunrise shots, and windhorse scene. It's one of my favorite shots in the film.

ANYWAY…. My friend had a brother in Nepal who was a monk and he introduced us I guess. When I landed in Katmandu his brother and some other monks were there to pick me up. This is a neat story because as I told his brother about my film, I showed him some footage from Tibet, when he saw Rinpoche's face, he cried out! "Rinpoche he was one of my best friends!" Call it Karma? This monk and Rinpoche were friends when they were younger and hadn’t seen or spoken to each other in years, and now he was playing the Rinpoche as he first enters into Nepal. Lots of these things happened thought the shoot.

How were you able to film the Dalai Lama?

In the end, filming the Dalai Lama was just good luck, or I guess more appropriatley good Karma. I did however have to work for this luck. When I travelled to the different monasteries etc. in Nepal and India I asked for the highest Riposte or Lama at the college. I would arrange a meeting and ask them to write a letter showing their support for the film and asking the Dalai Lama to allow me to film him. It actully was a bit of a nightmare taking the little tuk tuk everywhere out to the different Dhama colleges.

Sometimes it would take an hour and no one would be there to sign the letter. It felt like I was chasing and chasing often after nothing. I remember being in Varanassi and going to visit a man with the title of The High Priest. He was at a place called Sarnath and was a good friend of the Dalai Lama. A title like ‘High Priest,’ is obviously a powerful man. Anyway I rember sitting in his office, sweaty, and dirty, hair askew, it seemed like I was at the last point, I finally reached ‘The High Priest,’ that was also his name card on his desk. Anyway in the end he decided not to help.

At the same time I was desperatly trying to figure out where The Dalai Lama was going to be in India, so I was planning to train around and show up wherever he was teaching. Anyway I discovered that he would be teaching in Derahdun for three days. I found out where that was and I bolted for a 12 hour train ride.

I arrived in the evening, worked a deal with the owner of the Krishna Hotel. The next morning I woke up in the dark and took a cab to where the teachings would be held.

Security was obviously very high, and by the time I got there lots of people had begun to show up. I went up to the front gate and showed the security all my support letters and that I wanted to meet the Dalai Lama's secretary to see if I could get permission to film him.

The security guard wasn’t really as friendly as I hoped. He confiscated my gear and agreed I could go into the grounds. There were hundreds and hundreds of monks, of course, all wearing the red robes. I had no idea where to begin, it was kind of mayhem.

I stood a moment watching all the people, and there was one monk staring at me. I looked at him. "Gosh," I thought, "I know this guy, but from where?"

Then he spoke up and said “Geoff what are you doing here?” Suddenly I realized it was Lama Tsensten from Vancouver! He was one of the original monks who met Riposte when he first arrived in Vancouver. I couldn’t believe it! I told him I was here making a film about the Riposte etc. and that I had collected letters to get permission to film the Dalai Lama, he chuckled, yelled something in Tibetan and before I knew it security was pinning press badges on me, and I had three days clearence to film the Dalai Lama. I couldn’t believe it.

That’s why again how the title is so appropriate…. ‘Call it Karma.’