Life in Exile, part of the Distance of the Outsider series, is a group of tapes Feingold recorded in Tibetan refugee communities in India. In Part One, based on the ancient Buddhist concept of "the power of language to generate understanding," the Dalai Lama - spiritual and political leader of the Tibetan people - and other Tibetan monks discuss the nature of mind and of the phenomenal world. They address the ways in which we experience the world, how we name these experiences, and how we make these experiences meaningful. In 1959, the Dalai Lama and many Tibetans escaped to India during the Communist Chinese suppression of a nationalist uprising for the independence of Tibet.
Interviews/Camera/Editor: Ken Feingold. Translators: Kalsang Damdul, Tenzin Dorjee, Ruth Sonam, Thubten Tashi, Kalsang Tsering, Karma Lekshe Tsomo. Production Assistant/Sound Recordist: Sara Rothholz-Weiner. Funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.