Women of Tibet: The Sacred Marriage

The Sacred Marriage is a unique exploration of the radical changes women and men experience on the quest to become fully realized human beings. It delves into what it means to follow a spiritual path while re-examining traditional roles in the context of a 21st century filled with the demands of modern living.

  • Rosemary Rawcliffe
    Director
    The Great 14th, Women of Tibet: Gyalyum Chemo - The Great Mother, Women of Tibet: A Quiet Revolution
  • Rosemary Rawcliffe
    Executive Producer
  • Rosemary Rawcliffe
    Producer
  • Rosemary Rawcliffe
    Writer
  • His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama
    Key Cast
  • Tendzin Choegyal
    Key Cast
  • Rinchen Khando Choegyal
    Key Cast
  • Angeles Arrien
    Key Cast
  • Matthew Fox
    Key Cast
  • Lama Palden Drolma
    Key Cast
  • Khandro Choechen
    Key Cast
  • Lhamo Yudonma
    Key Cast
  • Lhamo Tseringma
    Key Cast
  • Lama Tsultrim Allione
    Key Cast
  • June Zandona
    Camera
  • Peter McCandless
    Director of Photography
  • Holly Hine
    Associate Producer
  • Tom Disher
    Composer
  • Ibon Olaskoaga
    Editor/Colorist
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    56 minutes 36 seconds
  • Production Budget:
    535,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    India, United States
  • Language:
    English, Tibetan
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Distribution Information
  • Frame of Mind Films
    Distributor
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Rosemary Rawcliffe

Founder of Frame of Mind Films, Rosemary Rawcliffe is an EMMY® award-winning consultant, executive producer, producer, and director with over 30 years of international experience in television, advertising, film, video, and theatrical production. A social entrepreneur, Rosemary combines a unique blend of creative vision and business acumen with the capacity to effectively oversee and guide an organization's creative and business facets. Her key strengths include conceptualizing and synthesizing innovative ideas, successful team leadership, project coordination, and timely and budget-friendly production delivery. As a humanitarian, Rosemary's dedication to creating films emphasizing human rights and prioritizing telling stories from the female perspective is unwavering. When Rosemary moved to the United States from her native England, she founded Frame of Mind Films to continue her passion for producing stories that witness truth, spirit, hope, and courage. Under her leadership, Frame of Mind Films continues to make a social impact with its EMMY® winning Women of Tibet series and, most recently, the EMMY® nominated production of The Great 14th: Tenzin Gyatso, The 14th Dalai Lama in His Own Words.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

My interest in Tibet began many years ago as a student of Tibetan Buddhism. As I learned more about the culture and the role Tibetan women played in their community, I was compelled by the idea of producing a film that would explore their role in all aspects of Tibetan society. This idea was the genesis of A Quiet Revolution and began when I discovered the untold story of 15,000 women coming together in March 1959 to oppose the occupation of their country by the Communist Chinese army. In making this film I could see there was a story within a story that crossed 3 generations: from the women who were part of the uprising, and who were imprisoned or escaped following His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama into exile in India; the women who came of age rebuilding their culture in exile; and their daughters, born and raised in exile yet expected to carry a culture of a country they may never see.

In the process of producing A Quiet Revolution everyone spoke about the Dalai Lama’s mother, including the Dalai Lama, as being a force for good in the darkest of times. The importance of her role was not just as His Holiness’ mother, rather as a woman who inspired the strength to preserve culture, family, and tradition while in exile. This revelation lives at the heart of Gyalyum Chemo: The Great Mother and forced me to complete this film first. Marrying a rich and full life history with the universal Great Mother archetype, it took on a production life of its own.

All the material that sourced these two films presented me with the ability to see there was yet another film to be made. The Sacred Marriage, still in production, seeks to shed light on what happens when two primal forces, the Divine Feminine and the Sacred Masculine, begin to work together to create a more harmonious and peaceful world. Together these three films are the Women of Tibet film trilogy.

Underpinning all of this is a belief that if we allow the Tibetan culture to be lost, we will lose a part of our humanity. Tibetans are carrying the model for our collective humanity when it comes to creating a society based on peace and nonviolence. They’ve been doing it for almost sixty years in exile. If we lose that model, that possibility, how do we imagine we can create a world worth living in?