Nine hundred years after his death, the visionary, wizard, saint, and poet, Milarepa remains Tibet’s greatest mystic. Yet his youthful rage and black magic brought death and destruction upon his own family. This is his story—a tale of vendetta, demons, murder, and redemption. In the Year of the Water Dragon, in the eleventh century, on a high barren plain, a child is born. Destined to become one of the most revered figures in Tibetan history, Milarepa’s life story will grow into a legend, inspiring millions. He was born as Thöpaga into a wealthy merchant family. He lives a privileged youth until his father’s sudden death. Penniless and without protection, Thöpaga and his family are enslaved to the ruthless Gyaltsen in order to survive. Humiliated and spiteful, his mother plots to avenge this injustice. In the youthful Thöpaga she a devoted son, and also a ready instrument of revenge…

Screenplay Neten Chokling Rinpoche, Tenzing Choyang
Photography (colour) Paul Warren
editino Suzy Elmiger, A.C.E.
Music Joel Diamond
Sound Robert Hein
Cast Orgyen Tobgyal, Kelsang Chukie Tethong, Jamyang Lodro
Production Shining Moon, Raymond Steiner
Year of production 2006
Running time 96’
Format 35mm

Neten Chokling Rinpoche

Neten Chokling Rinpoche was born in 1973 into a farmer family in central Bhutan. At the age of two, he was recognized as the reincarnation of a great Tibetan meditation master. He was taken to his ancestral monastery in India and enthroned as the fourth incarnation of the master, where he received his formal Buddhist training and grew to become a renowned and accomplished meditation practitioner and spiritual leader. He worked in Khyentse Norbu’s The Cup and Travellers & Magicians. His rigorous classical Buddhist training combined with a deep interest in the film medium, make him one of the most innovative interpreters of Himalayan Buddhism today. Milarepa is his debut feature film.