Saving the Wat

The San Francisco Film Society is sponsoring Saving the Wat, a film by Virada Chatikul and Siwaraya Rochanahusdin about a team of young community advocates who banded together to protect their community’s temple. Here’s a film synopsis:

Wat Mongkolratanaram, aka the Berkeley Thai Temple, comes under fire when a request to build a Buddhist shrine on their own property is submitted to the city. The Temple elders must now rely on a group of young and energetic second-generation Thai-Americans to advocate for their constitutional rights protecting religious freedoms. The team navigates through the city’s land use and permit process, represents the Temple in mediation with neighbors, launches an awareness campaign, and ultimately, brings together a community that would otherwise face potential closure of the Temple.

Please support this film project—not to mention Buddhist community organizers—by making a donation. You don’t have to bequeath your estate; if everyone in the community donates a little bit, we’ll be威而鋼 able to get this film off the ground! You may remember this campaign from posts last year by Rev. Danny Fisher and Dharma Folk, also reposted by several others. Now is a great chance to continue that support. (Hat tip to the Angry Asian Man; image credits to Where There Be Dragons and Asian Pacific Americans for Progress.)

One thought on “Saving the Wat

  1. Archivist’s Note: Comments have been preserved from the original website for archival purposes; however, comments are now closed.


    Connie LoNovember 24, 2010 at 2:28 AM
    So I just wanted to say that I found out about this like a week ago, and was going to email it to you in a moment…but then I came here, and OF COURSE you already knew. =)


    SiwarayaDecember 18, 2010 at 12:46 AM
    Dear Arun:

    Thank you so much for blogging about our film project. I feel very honored that you posted and are supportive of our endeavor. 🙂

    I hope that you are having a wonderful winter.

    Warmest Regards,

    Siwaraya

    PS. I wanted to send a personal email but didn’t know your address.

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