Daughters of Wisdom

A film by Bari Pearlman

An intimate portrait of a rare and extraordinary spiritual community and the women who created it.

Situated on the Eastern Tibetan plateau north of the Himalayas, at an altitude of 14,000 feet, the Nangchen district of Kham is home to an estimated 60,000 subsistence farmers and nomadic herding families. Their way of life has changed little in over 2,000 years, and for most it is a life of illiteracy, poverty and hunger. Now, for the first time, the women of Nangchen are being given the chance to change the course of their lives, and to continue their rich spiritual legacy. Built with their own hands and always expanding, the Kala Rongo Monastery is home to nearly 300 nuns who study and practice full-time, creating new opportunities for themselves and for the community they serve.

Daughters of Wisdom is an intimate portrait of these nuns, who are receiving unprecedented educational and religious training, and preserving their rich cultural heritage even as they slowly reshape it. Some shy, some outspoken, all committed to the often difficult life they have chosen, the nuns graciously allowed the camera a never-before-seen glimpse into their vibrant spiritual community and insight into their extraordinary lives.