Tukdam: Between Worlds [NC16] | Film Information

We tend to think of death as something clear-cut, and that medical science has it neatly figured out. This feature documentary explodes such assumptions through its exploration of a phenomenon that blurs life and death to an unprecedented degree. In what Tibetan Buddhists call tukdam, advanced meditators die in a consciously controlled manner in meditation. Though dead according to our biomedical standards, they often stay sitting upright in meditation posture; remarkably, their bodies remain fresh and lifelike, without signs of decay for days, sometimes weeks after clinical death.

The film follows the first ever scientific research into tukdam by neuroscientist Richard Davidson’s team, juxtaposed with intimate death stories of tukdam meditators and Tibetan understandings of the death process – which include ideas about consciousness and the mind-body connection that are very different to those of mainstream science. Unfolding in cinematic dialogue between scientific and Tibetan perspectives, the film unravels our certainties about life and death, and shows how differently death can be construed in different cultural contexts. In this encounter between worlds, the scientists' methods and views are challenged by a civilisation where death has been a central preoccupation for centuries

Film Details

• Tukdam: Between Worlds [NC16]
• Date: 23 Sep 2023
• Time: 4.10pm
• Venue: Shaw Theatres Lido 1
• Address: 350 Orchard Road 5th, #6th floor Shaw House, Singapore 238868

Ticketing Information

• Tickets available on Sistic
• Price: SGD 15

Information Source: THUS HAVE I SEEN Buddhist Film Festival official website