Delving into Silence with Patrick Shen

Host Rabbi Rami talks with Patrick Shen about the challenges of filming a documentary about the topic of silence, the model of monastic life, and how it affected his personal life. A review of his film with appears in the Sept/Oct issue of Spirituality & Health magazine.

Patrick made his feature directorial debut in 2005 with the critically-acclaimed Flight from Death: The Quest for Immortality which was hailed by critics as being “one of the most ambitious flms ever made” (PBS 106.7 Australia) and “moving and thought-provoking” (NBC). Beautifully photographed in eight different countries and three years in the making, Flight from Death was awarded seven Best Documentary awards at film festivals all over the United States.

In 2009, Shen premiered his award-winning The Philosopher Kings to sold-out audiences at AFI Docs after which the film opened theatrically in Los Angeles & New York. Shen’s third documentary La Source premiered at AFI Docs in June 2012 where it received a standing ovation and a nomination for the Social Impact Award. Narrated by Oscar-nominated actor Don Cheadle, La Source tells the story of Josue Lajuenesse, a janitor from Princeton University who returns to Haiti after the 2010 earthquake to bring clean water to his village. La Source premiered theatrically in LA and New York in August 2012. Patrick has received a grant from the Fledgling Fund and for the past three years has been selected by the U.S. Department of State and the USC School of Cinematic Arts to participate in the American Film Showcase, a cultural diplomacy program that brings American filmmakers to countries all over the globe to screen their films and conduct filmmaking workshops.