On the plateaus of eastern Tibet lies a "Buddhist citadel" that does not exist on maps and which the Chinese government has attempted to raze to the ground multiple times. Founded about ten years ago by the Buddhist master Achung Lama, Yaquin is now a vast shantytown without sewage systems or running water, housing over 20,000 monks, of whom 15,000 are women. For many of them, monastic life is synonymous with freedom and education. Between April and May 2018, after two years of planning and waiting, and accompanied only by a Tibetan interpreter, Eloïse Barbieri traveled to Yaquin to create a documentary that tells the story of this extraordinary place.
Event in collaboration with Montura Editing.
