MUMBAI: The theatrically released feature film Buddha Wild Monk in a Hut, directed, written and presented by actress and producer Anna Wilding, has been accepted as a finalist into the International Festival of Films on Tribal Art and Cultures – IFFTAC.

IFFTAC takes place on 1-3 February in Indore (Madhya Pradesh).
 
Buddha Wild has been called a ‘heartwarming, charming and illuminating film’ and ‘a must see film’ by NY and LA Splash Magazine. It garnered critics pick in LA Weekly Magazine after a two week stint in art house cinemas in Los Angeles.
 
The film, still in early distribution stages, played for over a month at Rialto and Hollywood Cinemas in the South Island, New Zealand and was selected for the Screen Actors Guild Foundation Screening series in Los Angeles and the Calgary Buddhist Film Series.
 
Buddha Wild journeys to and provides an glimpse into the cultural and monastic lives of Thai and Sri Lankan missionary monks living on a remote monastry in the Western world. The film explores the basic tenets of Buddhism, celibacy, politics, the role of women in Asian society and the day to day lives of monks.
 
New Yorkers get their first chance to see this film in a special screening at Tibet House in New York on 19 March. Wilding will be in attendance for a discussion following the screening. Tibet House was founded by the Dalai Lama and Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman and holds amongst its trustees Phillip Glass, Uma Thurman and other notable New York luminaries. Executive Director of Tibet House Gandan Thurman organized the screening.
 
Buddha Wild was produced by Carpe Diem Films LLC, which has unveiled a development slate that includes an international narrative feature film on a pioneering aviatrix, a black comedy on the economics of growing grapes, and a project on celebrity silkscreen artist Russell Young. Many fans of the film, including monks, have asked and invited Wilding to make a follow up film on Buddhism.