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The Changing Ways of 'The Dhamma Brothers'

By Marcos Bernal-Salas

Friday, April 11, 2008

‘The Dhamma Brothers’ is a riveting documentary that talks about the possibilities of transformation – or rehabilitation – of 36 prison inmates at the Donaldson Correction Facility in Alabama. Jenny Phillips, Andrew Kukura and Ann Marie Stein, all co-direct, write and produce, are able to capture and pose the question of what if new ways of healing can actually change violent criminals?

Of course, the so-called new approach can only be labeled as such since it has never been done before. Phillips and company set out to document the human potential of transformation through Vipassana meditation; which dates back to the ancient teachings of the Buddha around 2500 years ago. A practitioner herself, she is aware of how this type of mediation deals with personal suffering. Of course, such an idealistic idea might not pan so well in everyone’s mind. Especially, deep in the countryside of Alabama, Birmingham to be more exact where the Donaldson Correctional Facility is not only understaffed, underdeveloped but also deeply religious. Any ideas of Buddhism are not to be lightly taken in Christian country.

But ‘The Dhamma Brothers’ does not entirely deal with the strong – if any negative – views of the religions in the film. Instead, it shows how the different men in the prison have changed their lives through the process of Vipassana meditation. All of them charged with criminal and violent acts to serve life imprisonment in one of the highest and overcrowded maximum-security prisons. To many of them it represents the end of the line where if a low morale does not kill you maybe one of the dangerous cellmates might.

The combination of unfiltered footage, interviews, re-enactments of the media and family relatives capture the essence of these men. Who they were before and who they become after Vipassana mediation. The filmmakers excel at showing the different aspects and ideas that each inmate goes through. Before entering the program and after; their fears, thoughts and self-discovery come through the lens making one forget that they were ever a danger to themselves or society in the first place.

That’s the gratifying thing about ‘The Dhamma Brothers’, it does not become a preaching documentary about Vipassana mediation but a look into the lives of men – changed men by its teaching – and a possible approach to real rehabilitation and treatment. After watching ‘The Dhamma Brothers’ it might be hard to go back to any cliché about prison inmates and their lives. And if that in itself is a possible hope, then I have to say to the filmmakers; well done. Superbly well done.

The films opens in limited release the NYC Cinema Village

Check out the the film’s Official Website