Three notable films offering fresh looks at Tibetan Buddhist culture have recently been released. One garnering a lot of attention is Dalai Lama Renaissance, narrated by Harrison Ford. The film has won twelve awards and been chosen as an official selection at more than forty international film festivals. Read on for more, and for related links.
The film tells the story of what happens when the Dalai Lama invites a group of innovative thinkers to India to discuss how to solve the world’s problems. Instead of the peaceful dialogue one might expect, ego-ridden catfights break out. Participants—who include author and physicist Fred Alan Wolf and theoretical nuclear physicist Amit Goswami, who were both featured in the documentary What the Bleep Do We Know?, and nationally syndicated radio host Thom Hartmann—revolt against the facilitators’ attempts to create order, and they propose solutions that seem oddly off the mark. By the end of the weeklong conference, however, participants and facilitators alike are transformed by the Dalai Lama’s wisdom.
His Holiness also makes an appearance in Mustang: Journey of Transformation, narrated by Richard Gere. The film shows how monasteries in the Kingdom of Mustang in Nepal are being restored and how, with every beam replaced and stupa repainted, hope is coming back to a society struggling to survive. The restoration will be significant to Tibet supporters because Mustang is culturally and ethnically Tibetan but, being outside of Chinese control, it could play a special role in preserving authentic Tibetan tradition. The film premieres on PBS on November 18.
Gere also narrates Blessings: The Tsoknyi Nangchen Nuns of Tibet, which documents Tsoknyi Rinpoche leading a group of mostly Western women to Nangchen, Tibet, to meet the accomplished practitioners known as the Tsoknyi Nangchen nuns. It’s heartwarming to see the cultural exchange and how inspired the Western women become when they experience the nuns’ devotion to practice. The most striking aspect of this film, however, is seeing how the Tsoknyi Nangchen nuns are thriving. Against all odds, there are currently three thousand of them in thirty-five nunneries.
View trailers of the films here:
Dalai Lama Renaissance: http://dalailamafilm.com/trailer.html
Mustang: Journey of Transformation: http://www.pbs.org/mustang/
Blessings: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqimgbbjrg4