Bringing People Together
In 2016 the film was finally ready to be released. The launch exceeded our expectations as Akong – a Remarkable Life was selected to appear at Film Festivals, winning several prestigious industry awards.
The next step was to show the film to invited audiences at Premieres in Akong Rinpoche’s major centres in Scotland and London. These Premieres, which took place in early 2017, were attended by Akong’s family, friends, students and other special guests. It was particularly satisfying to know that the people who had known Akong for many years were pleased that Chico’s film truly reflected the qualities of this great man and everything he had achieved.
When the Hart Knowe Trust became involved with helping Chico to bring his project to completion, Vin Harris took on the role of Executive Producer. A key aspect of Vin’s vision for the film’s distribution was to engage the vast network of people connected to Akong Rinpoche and encourage them to create a series of special events to show the film. These gathering would not only bring people together to honour Akong’s memory but they would also give his friends and students an opportunity to continue his activity; sharing the story of his remarkable life and his message of compassion in action with audiences all over the world.
Marilyn Harris of Hart Knowe Trust was responsible for looking after the finances and distribution of the film. She helped Akong Rinpoche’s friends to organise events at more than 100 venues in 24 countries. Wherever possible Chico, Vin or someone who knew Akong would introduce the film and host a Q&A session which led to some wonderful open-hearted conversations. Click here for a list of the venues where the film was shown and visit the Facebook page for photos and news about screenings.
Thousands of people’s lives have been touched by the film Akong – a Remarkable Life. With the agreement of everyone involved in the project, revenues from showing the film were donated to the Akong Memorial Foundation which has been established to continue his humanitarian activity.
