Walking the Waking Journey Balanag’s film on the children’s journey back to their homes in 2008 was among the documentaries that received the Golden Ace Award in the recently concluded Las Vegas Film Festival. The film was produced by the American production outfit Teslar from a script by Baguio-based anthropologist Padmapani Perez. It was edited by Kidlat de Guia. The Inquirer ran a story last year about the Tibetan monk and his 11 wards from the Himalayan border region of Upper Dolpo, Nepal. The monk fed and educated the children in the monastery, then brought them home after five years, which became the subject of Balanag’s film. I am happy that this film touched many people, Balanag, 31, said: If it gets a bigger viewership, a lot more will be inspired to put compassion into action. He added: It was a difficult trek. We had to fast at times because food was limited and, when exhaustion came, I asked myself, why am I here? What am I doing???? The answer came when we reached our destination. We were so happy seeing the children reunited with their families. The film premiered at the Cultural Center of the Philippines in 2009 and was shown at the 2010 Miami Fashion Week, Film Dokumenter in Indonesia and a film festival in Barcelona, Spain.