The Dhamma Brothers

Infobox Film
name = The Dhamma Brothers


caption =
director = Jenny Phillips, Andrew Kukura, and Anne Marie Stein [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1212007/ IMDb Profile] ]
producer =
writer =
starring =
music =
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released = 2007
runtime = 76 min
language = English
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website = http://www.dhammabrothers.com/
amg_id =
imdb_id = 1212007

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. It includes reenactments of the inmates' crimes. [ [http://worldfilm.about.com/b/2008/04/15/review-the-dhamma-brothers.htm About.com movie review of The Dhamma Brothers] ] Music for the film is by Low, New Order and Sigur Rós. [http://www.tvguide.com/movies/dhamma-brothers/review/293190 TV Guide review of The Dhamma Brothers by Ken Fox] ]

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. [http://www.tvguide.com/movies/doing-time-doing/review/191190 TV Guide review of Doing Time, Doing Vipassana by Ken Fox] ]

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. [http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117936745.html?categoryid=31&cs=1 Variety review by Ronnie Scheib] ] 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). [ [http://www.pariyatti.com/book_778706.html Publishers press release about the upcoming book] ]

The Meditation Program

Director Jenny Philips was largely responsible for the meditation program's inception at the prison. [http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/film/reviews/article_display.jsp?JSESSIONID=sQYSLKlf8ZjTBdvWyMPkv692MQSnyQmWyKyq0WCJjJLZhXnC78DN!-1431123142&&rid=10961 Hollywood reporter review] ] 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 [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/13/movies/13dhar.html New York Times review of The Dhamma Brothers by Whitney Joiner] ] in January 2002. [http://www.pariyatti.org/news/archives/2006/11/letters_from_th.html Publishers press release about the film] ] Philips believes that was the first time a ten-day retreat had been held in a maximum-security prison such as Donaldson.

The meditation program taught was Vipassana meditation. The first ten-day intensive at the prison occurred in January 2002 with twenty inmates. The film includes material from the second ten-day intensive meditation retreat held in May 2002 with thirty seven inmates and a follow up three-day retreat and interviews in January 2006. 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." [http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/04/11/movies/11dham.html?ref=movies New York Times review of The Dhamma Brothers by Jeannette Coutsoulis, April 11, 2008] ]

Controversy

The meditation program at Donaldson was shut down shortly after the second meditation retreat. According to New York Times reviewer Whitney Joiner this was because the chaplain of the prison complained to administrators that he was losing his inmate congregation. In December 2005, the prison administration changed and the meditation program was allowed to begin again.

The film also includes interviews with local residents who provide statements that are negative about the meditation program, perceiving it as anti-Christian. One resident compared Buddhism with witchcraft.

Criticism

Reviewer Julia Wallace said of the film, also mirrored by others, that the reenactments were cheesy. [ [http://www.villagevoice.com/film/0815,tracking-3,404106,20.html Village Voice review of The Dhamma Brothers by Julia Wallace] ]

Awards

* Tied for Best Feature Documentary at the Wood Hole Film Festival 2007
* NCCD Pass Award Winner 2007 [ [http://www.nccd-crc.org/nccd/pdf/pass_winners_2007.pdf 2007 Pass Award Winners] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.dhammabrothers.com/ Official movie web site]