Unmistaken Child

Imagine that someone you love has died. Someone you have attended since the age of seven, oftentimes in remoteness and total seclusion. Now, imagine that you have been charged with the monumental task of finding this man’s reincarnated spirit. This is the true story of Tenzin Zopa and the Unmistaken Child.

After Geshe Lama Konchog’s death at the age of 84, Tenzin Zopa, his disciple, was entrusted to find the reincarnated spirit of his master. Feeling completely unworthy of the task and fearful of making a mistake, Tenzin Zopa begins a four year long journey followed by writer-director Nati Baratz and his camera. Throughout this lengthy adventure we follow Tenzin’s faithful search until he finds the unmistaken child and must bring him back for spiritual testing. The emotional toil on Tenzin and the child’s parents is heart wrenching.

This documentary allows you to see into a unique culture and a rarely seen part of the world. What was amazing to me is how much our commercial world has seeped into even the most furthest parts of the planet. When you see a peasant child in the mountains of Tibet playing with a plastic flashing toy in the middle of a primitive village, it makes you want to slow the world down and keep it from changing so fast. Even the Buddhist monks had TV.

If you have any interest in other cultures, or traveling to parts unknown, you will really enjoy this film. The pace is slow, but the human drama is real, and you will be amazed by the Unmistaken Child.

Rating: Rent It Tenzin Zopa is our fascinating guide into a strange and mystical process