Becoming Who I Was

South Korea, Feature Documentary, 2016, 95 min

Top winner at Seattle, Berlinale and Moscow International Film Festivals

A charmingly intimate portrait that ultimately assumes epic journey proportions. Variety

What is it about young Padma Angdu that makes him the reincarnated soul of a fabled Buddhist master? Are there depths of soul and wisdom that would otherwise be impossible for a nine-year-old boy to know? Or is he just an ordinary boy throwing snowballs with his friends? At age five, Padma discovered that he is the highest-ranking Tibetan monk reincarnated from the past, giving him the noble title of Rinpoche. But Padma was displaced in his reincarnation and is separated from his original monastery and disciples in Chinese-held Tibet. With his tutor and servant Urgain, Padma spends years in a poor village waiting for his followers to claim him. Filmed over eight years in the astounding scenery of Ladakh in northern India, Padma and Urgain decide to make an epic and dangerous journey across India. Subtitled.

Directed by Chang-Yong Moon and Jin Jeon

Colorado Premiere