Bodhi Fest
August 16, 2025 8:00 AM - 7:00 PM
A Buddhist Arts and Film Festival Hosted by Heartwood Refuge
About The Festival
The first annual Bodhi Fest, a Buddhist Arts and Film Festival at Asheville Community Theatre on August 16th, 2025 will be a day of illumination as we explore the gladdening qualities of the human spirit ranging from sweet solitude to ecstatic joy. The program will consist of Buddhist films + Q&A, shorts, a dance workshop, a songwriting workshop, musical performances and more. Crafts, art and food from Buddhist sanghas, artists and local vendors will be shared in the front lobby during the festival.
Enjoy an event of immersion in compassionate-wisdom activities that provoke insight and lift the spirit.
Festival Schedule
Saturday*
7:30a Doors Open
8a-9:30a Dance Workshop
9:45a-11:15a Songwriting Workshop
11:30a-12:45p Short Films+Talk Back
12:45p-2:15p Lunch Break
2:15p-3:15p Feature Film #1
3:15p-3:30p Feature Film #1: Talk Back
3:30p-4:00p Theatre/Dance Show
4:15p-5:45p Feature Film #2
5:45p-6p Feature Film #2: Talk Back
6:15p-7p DharmaVoci Concert
*There will be an hour for a lunch/dinner break. You can eat downtown, bring your own sack lunch or enjoy light snacks from our vendors!
Featured Performers
DharmaVoci, an ensemble that was started by Venerable Pannavati. Their music ranges from chants, gospel, contemporary and folk to electronic, r&b and traditional hymns. Blended with devotion and heartfelt prayer, DharmaVoci sings songs that inspire, uplift and transport.
Listen to DharmaVoci’s album, Invocation https://dharmavoci.
BlissHippy, an Americana two time award winning and two time finalist songwriter duo. Maureen and Richard Hall have traveled coast to coast for over 20 years sharing and performing their songs which range from the sublime to silly; profound to down right irreverent and everything in between. Mostly original, mostly in tune and always fun!
Dance Workshop
We will use improvisation-based movement practices, dance steps and conversation to explore authentic creativity. Experimentation and play will be at the forefront of our time together.
Songwriting Workshop
What is a song and where do songs live? Where do they come from and where do they go? Music is powerful and is a force of influence. How can we work with this force to uplift and unify? Songwriting can come from a vulnerable, tender and intimate place. With an attitude of exploration, discover the natural ease of songwriting. Let’s be curious and courageous; you may just end up surprising yourself!
Feature Films
POEM
A visually evocative film directed by Robert Fritz, shot in Japan, and recognized for its artistic expression. Described as “visual poetry with fantastic acting,” the film has garnered accolades, including the Audience Choice Award at the Tokyo Lift-Off Film Festival. As Lee Thomas, Oscar nominee, said about the film: “POEM’s insight into creativity, the play of opposites in poetry and art, and also the ebb and flow of the teacher-pupil-teacher metaphors and relationships. I’ll continue to think about it for some time.” Stuck in a rut the lead actor is determined to leave behind her life’s work. While down and dim she meets a young aspirant with little skill but much spirit. The film weaves a beautiful message portraying the teacher-student relationship and how you have to be where you are to find your own way. When you are “confused”, there is no need to “understand”.
The Art of Life
As a rising star in the field of abstract mathematics, Michael Behrens discovered that he could see beauty and pattern where others could not. But his path was not to be inside academia, or even inside society. He went on a grand adventure to unify his Buddhism with his ability to see an expanded view of reality. He created beauty in a place where nobody else would, and made his friends amongst dolphins!
The Mountain Path
A spirited young man journeys into the mountains of China in search of a Buddhist hermit master. Along the trail he meets an unexpected cast of dedicated recluses; the gaunt ascetic, the persevering nun, a wise old master and his disciples, all who, despite living far from the world, teach him all about how to live within it.
Edward A. Burger lived in China for over twelve years and is one of the few foreigners to have lived and studied with the hermits of the Zhongnan Mountains. The Mountain Path recounts his personal journey, including the story of how he found his lifelong teacher and entered into the world of these dedicated recluses. We witness the practical everyday challenges of mountain solitude, while the hermits share precious teachings on life, death and the journey within.
A collection of Short Films will be shown during the festival
All Event Access Tickets include observing the workshops. To be a participant in the Dance or Songwriting Workshops, add those items during checkout.
Tickets
All Event Access:
Supporter (to enable subsidized tickets): $55
Standard: $45
Subsidized (students/limited income): $40
Add-on workshops:
Participant Dance Workshop: $20
Participant Songwriting Workshop: $20
*Workshops are available for festival ticket holders only.
(Sales tax added during check out)
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