The International Buddhist Film Festival, founded in Berkeley in 2000, plants its roots this week in San Rafael, nearby to both the renowned Spirit Rock Meditation Center and the beloved Green Gulch Farm Zen Center. Based in Oakland and co-presented by the California Film Institute, the festival returns after a two-year hiatus because of COVID-19 and offers nine in-person-only premieres Thursday through Sunday at the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center. We caught up with executive director and founder Gaetano Maida to find out more about the festival’s origins, its evergreen Bay Area appeal and learn more about the upcoming slate, which includes the world premiere of “The Mountain Path,” director Edward Burger’s updating of his 2005 documentary on Chinese hermits, “Amongst White Clouds.”
