Saffron Robe

Saffron Robe is a feature documentary that follows a revered Buddhist abbot in the remote northern region of Laos as he navigates the challenges of a sacred life under a communist regime.

An ambitious spiritual leader, Abbot Onekeo Sittivong defied convention by establishing a new school for the his country's poor and undereducated children. But something else is happening at this school in a misty forest. The abbot and his fellow saffron-robed monks and young novices are working tirelessly to revitalize ancient Lao Theravada Buddhist practices and education almost lost to history.

Of the many scars left by the Vietnam War, little is known in the West of the lasting revolution in the small but pivotal country of Laos, where the U.S. carried out its “Secret War.” After the war, while America and much of the rest of Southeast Asia moved forward, the people of Laos experienced a profound transformation almost overnight, from a 600-year-old monarchy to a communist-run state. Among those most affected were the country's revered Theravada Buddhist monks, once the spiritual leaders and the foremost educators of Laos. Many were forced to flee their temples and return to the rice fields for survival. Yet, Buddhism remained central to the spiritual and cultural fabric of the country.
Through the eyes of the young novices attending the abbot's school, Saffron Robe journeys to a secluded plot of land along the Mekong River. Here, boys from the country’s most isolated and poorest mountain villages endeavor to receive an education otherwise inaccessible to them. Beyond a full day of basic education, they learn the centuries-old traditions of Theravada Buddhism, nearly lost to war and revolution, while also living by the strict rules of monastic life. The novices struggle between a generational past of subsistence farming and a hope for a brighter future. They carry the weight not just of their own hopes, but that of their families who place their collective dreams on the shoulders of their sons.

On the surface, this is a story of breaking the cycle of poverty and ignorance through education. Many of the school’s students will eventually disrobe to become educators or professionals, earning an income to support their families. The abbot, however, believes the novices’ path is about much more. Saffron Robe follows the abbot’s dream to safeguard the traditions and wisdom of a rich culture against the encroachments of a modern world by passing this heritage on to future generations.

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