Films on Tibet, Buddhism, the Dalai Lama,
and other topics of interest
Angry Monk—Reflections on Tibet (2005/Switzerland/Tibetan & English/documentary/97 minutes)—story of Gendun Choepel, a Tibetan monk who lived during the first half of the twentieth century (1903-1951). After rejecting monastic life, he traveled in Tibet and India, learning more about the history of his country. He eventually came to criticize aspects of Tibet’s religion and government, and was imprisoned in 1946 for three years by the Tibetan government as a political subversive.
Compassion in Exile: The Story of the 14th Dalai Lama (1993/US/English/ documentary/60 minutes)—portrait of the Dalai Lama, as he describes how he was raised and the key moments in his life.
The Cup (1999/Bhutan/Hindi & Tibetan with English subtitles/93 minutes)—young Tibetan monks at a monastery in exile try to talk the abbot into letting them rent a television and a satellite dish to watch the World Cup soccer finals. Based on a true story. Made by Khyentse Norbu Rinpoche.
Dalai Lama: The Soul of Tibet (1994/US/English/A&E Biography TV/documentary/50 minutes)—the story of the 14th Dalai Lama, from childhood to exile, including footage of his life and interviews. Includes his acceptance of the 1989 Nobel Peace prize and interviews with Chinese scholars.
Dreaming Lhasa (2005/India/English & Tibetan/90 minutes)—the story of a 30-year-old Tibetan woman raised in New York, who travels to Dharamsala, India, to make a film about the exile community. Joining with a local Tibetan youth and an ex-monk, they end up on a quest to find a CIA-trained resistance fighter who has been missing for 15 years.
Dreams of Tibet (1997/US/English/documentary/55 minutes)—the history of Tibet, and the desire of its people for independence, is examined through interviews with politicians, actors, directors, and others.
Heart of Tibet: An Intimate Portrait of the 14th Dalai Lama (1992/US/English/documentary/60 minutes)—portrait of the 14th Dalai Lama, filmed in 1989 while in Los Angels for a Tibetan Buddhist initiation ritual. He talks about human rights, nonattachment, compassion, and peace.
Himalaya (1999/UK/Tibetan & German/English subtitles/108 minutes)—different generations and rivals compete in this tale of travels on hostile terrain in Tibet to trade salt for grain. Beautiful cinematography.
Himalaya (2004/UK/English/documentary/360 minutes)—in this documentary series, writer/host Michael Palin travels the Himalaya from Pakistan to Myanmar [Burma]), and in the process meets many different people, from Royals and Ministers to ordinary shepherds, and even the Dalai Lama. On his journey through visually stunning landscape, he shows the lives of those whose livelihoods depend on the mountains of the Himalaya.
The Knowledge of Healing (1996/Switzerland/German and Tibetan/documentary/93 minutes)—the first feature documentary dealing extensively with Tibetan medicine. Taught for hundreds of years, this is a thorough and objective look at a highly developed medical system.
Kundun (1997/US/English/128 minutes)—directed by Martin Scorsese, this is the story of the discovery of the 14th Dalai Lama up until the time he flees Tibet in 1959 after nine years of Chinese occupation. One of the first of the major Hollywood films with Tibet or Buddhism as a theme. Filmed in Morocco.
Little Buddha (1993/UK/English/123 minutes)—film within a film, the first being the story of a young American boy who is thought to be the reincarnation of a Tibetan Buddhist rinpoche; interspersed is the story of the historical Buddha (played by Keanu Reeves), who lived in Nepal and India in the 5th Century BCE. Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci.
Lost Horizon (1937/US/English/132 minutes)—a plane crashes in the remote Himalayan mountains, and the survivors are rescued by the inhabitants of a strange, mystical valley, protected by the mountains from the world outside—Shangri-la. Hollywood’s idea of what Tibet was like, based on James Hilton’s book of the same name.
Milarepa (2006/India & Bhutan/Tibetan/96 minutes)—story of the first half of the life of Tibet’s great poet/saint, who lived 1040-1123. Milarepa’s life started out by his becoming a sorcerer to avenge the death of his father and the treatment of his family, but who later renounces his earlier ways and devotes his life to Buddhist practice. Filmed on location in the Spiti Valley on the Indian-Tibetan border with non-professional actors, including some who had appeared in The Cup by Khyentse Norbu Rinpoche. The second half of the film is scheduled for release in 2009.
Oracles & Demons of Ladakh (2003/US/English/documentary/71 minutes)—located in the northwest province of India, in the Himalayas, Ladakh is in the western region of the Tibetan plateau, and has been spared the encroachment of the Chinese. This region maintains the ways of Tibetan Buddhism (of all four schools) that have become minimalized in Tibet. The practitioners are believed to have direct contact with spirits, with whom they communicate through the Oracles. As they did in historic Tibet, and in the exile community, the oracles are called upon to divine the future, ward off harmful deities, and cure bodily illnesses. Among those interviewed are Robert Thurman and the Nechung Oracle, main oracle to the Dalai Lama and the government of Tibet in exile. Made by Khyentse Norbu Rinpoche.
Robert A. F. Thurman on Buddhism (2002/US/English/documentary/220 minutes)—Tibetan scholar and former Buddhist monk Robert Thurman shares his unique insight into Tibetan Buddhism, and explores: the Three Jewels; Boddhicitta; Merit; Wisdom; the Wheel of Dharma; the Four Noble Truths; the Three Wheels of Dharma; the Three Vehicles of Dharma; Buddhahood; and many others.
Robert A.F. Thurman on Tibet (2002/US/English/documentary/240 minutes)—in lecture format, former Tibetan Buddhist monk and currently professor at Columbia University Robert Thurman gives the history of Tibet, from the pre-buddhist Bön shamanistic folk religion, to the warrior-like early dynastic kings conquering their neighbors, to the introduction and peaceful nature of Buddhism from India, to the institution of the Dalai Lamas.
The Saltmen of Tibet (1997/Germany & Switzerland/German & Tibetan with English subtitles/documentary/108 minutes)—four men from a nomadic Tibetan tribe undertake their annual pilgrimage to a sacred salt lake, Lake Tsento. Salt gathered in the traditional fashion will be sold to provide the economic livelihood of the tribe for the coming year. The journey incorporates a number of rituals necessary for their culture to survive in the modern world.
Seven Years in Tibet (1997/US/English/139 minutes)—story of Austrian mountain climber Heinrich Harrer (and Peter Aufschnaiter, a fellow Austrian) who escape a prisoner of war camp in northern India during the Second World War and make their way across the Himalaya’s and Tibet to Lhasa. He was eventually to become a teacher and confidant to the young 14th Dalai Lama, before they both fled in 1959 as a result of an onslaught by the Chinese. Major Hollywood production, starring Brad Pitt as Harrer.
The Spirit of Tibet: The Life and World of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (aka Journey to Enlightenment) (1995/US/English/documentary/47 minutes)—born in 1910, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche was one of Tibet’s most revered teachers of the 20th century, including among his students the 14th Dalai Lama. Shows rarely photographed regions of Tibet and Bhutan, and includes interviews with the Dalai Lama. Directed by Matthieu Riccard, Buddhist monk, who traveled with Rinpoche for more than 14 years, before his death in 1991.
10 Questions for the Dalai Lama (2006/US/English/documentary/85 minutes)—filmmaker Rick Ray combines interviews with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, asking 10 fundamental questions, along with historical footage and filming done under cover in Tibet, to create a film that is “part biography, part philosophy, part adventure, and part politics.”
Tibet: A Buddhist Trilogy (1979; reissued in 2005/UK/Tibetan with English commentary and subtitles/documentary/134 minutes)—A trilogy of insights into the Tibetan Buddhist community: Part I is filmed in Dharamsala, India, home to the exiled Dalai Lama, and at Sera Monastery, rebuilt in southern India; Part II looks at monastic life in Nepal, with lamas from the Phulwary Sakya Monastery; and Part III is set in Ladakh, in northwestern India, following farmers and monks during a day, ending with monastic rituals as a result of a death in the community.
Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion (2003/US/ English/documentary/104 minutes)—filmed over the course of ten years worth of travel in Tibet, this movie examines the history of devastation in Tibet, the significance of the Tibetan issue today, and the spiritual beliefs, both inside Tibet and in the diaspora, that continue to inspire hope for the future. The documentary gives a concise, though passionate, overview of the history of Tibet, focusing on the suffering of the people over the past five decades at the hands of the People’s Republic of China. The story of the invasion is told through translated interviews, film footage, and still photographs. Narrated by Martin Sheen.
Travellers and Magicians (2003/Bhutan/Dzongkha with English subtitles/108 minutes)—directed by Khyentse Norbu Rinpoche, this is a mystical tale of lust, jealousy, and murder, involving two men in the Buddhist kingdom of Bhutan who seek to escape their mundane lives, yearning for a better and different life from the one they have been living. The scenery, along with the songs of traditional Buddhist chanting, make the film seem blurred between fantasy and reality, which, coincidentally, is what the film is all about.
We’re No Monks (2004/India/Tibetan/129 minutes)—the story of four youths living in exile in Dharamsala, India, home to the Tibetan government-in-exile. They are torn between trying to do something for the Tibetan diaspora and they country many have never seen and their need to find their way into the modern world of work, money, and a common dream of emigrating to the United States. Written and directed by Pema Dhondup, the film portrays both the aspirations and frustrations of Tibetan youth. Says Dhondup, “The films made so far on Tibet have been only about either monks and monasteries or the earlier years of Tibet. No one has touched the topic of today—Tibetan youth who have been living in exile, about their problems, their thinking, and their confusions that reflects the problems of all Tibetan youth.”
What Remains of Us (2004/Canada/Tibetan and English/documentary/77 minutes)—this Canadian documentary won the Best Documentary Prize at the 2004 Hollywood Film Festival. It shows how Kalsang Dolma, an Indian-born Tibetan women who moved to Montreal, carried a portable video player into Tibet that contained a message the 14th Dalai Lama had recorded especially for the Tibetan people. The film covers the intense emotional reactions of Tibetans who have not heard from or about him for almost fifty years due to Chinese censorship.
Wheel of Time (2003/German/English and German/documentary/80 minutes)—a thoughtful and highly personal look at what Buddhism means, written and directed by Werner Herzog. The film focuses on the Kalachakra initiation ceremony, this one held in 2002 in Bodh Gaya, India, where the historical Buddha Shakyamuni gained enlightenment, and on the creation of the intricate sand mandala that is at the heart of the ceremony.
Windhorse (1998/US/English/97 minutes)—this powerful movie, shot on location in various parts of Tibet and in Kathmandu, Nepal, is about the treatment of the Tibetan people by the Chinese, who have occupied Tibet since 1950. It focuses on three regular Tibetans, a brother and sister, one of whom does nothing but drink and whine, the other sings songs for the Chinese about the glory of China, and their cousin, who is a Tibetan nun. While the scenery is stunning, much of the action was shot surreptitiously due to the oppressive nature of Chinese surveillance in Lhasa.
Words of My Perfect Teacher (2003/Canada/English/documentary/103 minutes)—Dzongsar Khyentse Norbu Rinpoche is a renown, charismatic Buddhist teacher, with his primary monastery in Bhutan. He is a monastic who crosses many different bridges, being a teacher and a filmmaker, a high lama and a rabid soccer fan, a rinpoche with duties to his monastery and a world-traveling, cell-phone-toting director scouting out locations. The story focuses on three of his students (one of whom is the director, Lesley Ann Patten) as they follow him for teachings, and deal with disappointments. “The film’s point of view is inspired by Buddhist philosophy—which says that we can’t really change human behavior until we learn to deal with our mind. . . . And to study the mind, you need a teacher.”
Yatra Trilogy (UK/English/documentary)—“‘Yatra’ is a Sanskrit word for a sacred journey or pilgrimage. In this an ancient tradition, revered in every major faith, pilgrims travel to religious sites to share in the unique presence of the place. This trio of movies is a cycle of meditative journeys created to give viewers a profound experience of sacred space.”
Dharma River: Journey of a Thousand Buddhas (Laos, Thailand, Burma) (2004/81 minutes)—“travels on legendary rivers to mystical sites of Laos, Thailand & Burma.”
Prajna Earth: Journey into Sacred Nature (Bali, Cambodia, Java) (2004/85 minutes)—“This second film of the Yatra Trilogy is a cinematic journey to the legendary temples of Angkor in Cambodia, the spiritual sites of Bali and finally, the marvel of Buddhist Borobudur in Java.”
Vajra Sky: Journey into Luminous Faith (Tibet) (2005/87 minutes)—“Discovering the fabled temples, festivals and monasteries of Tibet, one is continually greeted by luminous faces of faith. Through mountains, rivers and sky, the journey leads to the revered sites of Shigatse and Gyantse. The enduring power of Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism resonates in all the sacred shrines of Lhasa. It echoes within the bustling Jokhang Temple and the empty Potala Palace, home of His Holiness the Dalai Lama."