The Dhamma Brothers
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| The Dhamma Brothers | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Jenny Phillips, Andrew Kukura, and Anne Marie Stein[1] |
| Release date(s) | 2007 |
| Running time | 76 min |
| Language | English |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Dhamma Brothers is a documentary film released in 2007 about a prison meditation program at Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer, Alabama. The film concentrates on four inmates, all convicted of murder. It also includes interviews of guards, prison officials, and local residents.[2] It includes reenactments of the inmates crimes.[3] Music for the film is by Low, New Order and Sigur Rós.[4]
The film has been compared to an earlier documentary, released in 1997, titled Doing Time, Doing Vipassana. That film documented a large scale meditation program at Tihar Prisons in India with over a thousand inmates using the same Burmese Buddhist meditation retreat format.[5][4]
The film is directed by Jenny Philips, a cultural anthropologist and psychotherapist, Andrew Kukura, a documentary filmmaker, and Anne Marie Stein, a film-school administrator.[6] Philips is also releasing a book in late 2008 based on followup letters with the inmates, titled Letters from the Dhamma Brothers: Meditation Behind Bars (ISBN 1-92870-631-2).[7]
Contents |
[edit] The Meditation Program
Director Jenny Philips was largely responsible for the meditation program's inception.[2] Philips had previously studied prison culture in Massachusetts. In 1999, she heard that prisoners at Donaldson were practicing meditation and she then organized the first ten-day intensive retreat there[8] in January of 2002.[9] Philips believes that was the first time a ten-day retreat had been held in a maximum-security prison such as Donaldson.[8]
The meditation program was lead in the Vipassana style of the Burmese Buddhist group of S. N. Goenka. The first ten-day intensive at the prison occurred in January of 2002 with twenty inmates. The film includes material from the second ten-day intensive meditation retreat held in May of 2002 with thirty seven inmates and a follow up three-day retreat and interviews in January 2006.[9] Each retreat consisted of a rigorous daily schedule and finished in complete silence. Convicted murderer Grady Bankhead described the retreat as, "tougher than his eight years on Death Row."[10]
[edit] Controversy
The meditation program at Donaldson was shut down shortly after the second meditation retreat. According to NY Times reviewer Whitney Joiner this was because the chaplain of the prison complained to administrators that inmates were converting to Buddhism. Philips felt her filming had contributed to a backlash. In December of 2005 prison administration changed and the meditation program was allowed to begin again.[8]
The film also includes interviews with local residents, including statements that are negative about the meditation program because it is anti-Christian. One resident equated Buddhism with witchcraft.[6]
[edit] Criticism
Reviewer Julia Wallace said of the film, also mirrored by others, that the reenactments were cheesy.[11]
[edit] Awards
- Tied for Best Feature Documentary at the Wood Hole Film Festival 2007[8]
- NCCD Pass Award Winner 2007[12]
[edit] References
- ^ IMDb Profile
- ^ a b Hollywood reporter review
- ^ About.com movie review of The Dhamma Brothers
- ^ a b TV Guide review of The Dhamma Brothers by Ken Fox
- ^ TV Guide review of Doing Time, Doing Vipassana by Ken Fox
- ^ a b Variety review by Ronnie Scheib
- ^ Publishers press release about the upcoming book
- ^ a b c d New York Times review of The Dhamma Brothers by Whitney Joiner
- ^ a b Publishers press release about the film
- ^ New York Times review of The Dhamma Brothers by Jeannette Coutsoulis, April 11, 2008
- ^ Village Voice review of The Dhamma Brothers by Julia Wallace
- ^ 2007 Pass Award Winners
