Samsara is oriented toward the mythical and spiritual, inviting the viewer on a journey into an intimate, meditative experience.

Patiño’s film moves from the temples of Laos to the beaches of Zanzibar, accompanying a soul in transit from one body to another. In Laos, dozens of monks live and study in splendid Buddhist temples. Each day, a young monk crosses the river to read to an elderly woman from a text that serves as a guide to the afterlife. When the woman dies, her spirit embarks on a sensory voyage toward reincarnation in a new body.

To complete the journey, you must allow yourself to be carried away by light and sound. With a whirlwind of noises and colors flashing at varying speeds, Patiño bombards the viewer’s senses in a singular and striking way.

In the film’s second part, we arrive in Zanzibar, Tanzania, where Islam engages with birth, life, death, and reincarnation in a different manner.