Dalai Lama Renaissance

Download the poster for the event here.

Dalai Lama Renaissance, an award winning documentary narrated by Harrison Ford, will be shown at the Rio Theater in Santa Cruz on Sunday, April 29th at 7 pm. The film presentation will be followed by the Producer-Director Khashyar Darvich answering questions from the audience and offering further  insight into the film. Tickets will be $15 general admission and $10 for seniors and students.

At the edge of the Millennium, Nobel Peace Prize winner the Dalai Lama, invited 40 of the West’s leading, most innovative thinkers to his residence in the Himalayan Mountains of Northern India to discuss the world’s problems and to offer suggestions on how they could be solved. What transpired during the week long conference was both unexpected and powerful as the participants confront their  own limitations during their search for answers. The film features quantum physicists Fred Alan Wolf and Amit Goswami, from What the Bleep Do We Know; Dr. Michael Beckwith, from The Secret; revolutionary social scientist, Jean Houston and others.

Producer-Director Khashyar Darvich, along with an 18-person 5-camera crew shot more than 140 hours of video footage to make this beautiful documentary. The film has been edited in a cinematic and visually interesting way, making the visuals of the film as powerful as the story line. Capturing the richness of both the Indian and Tibetan cultures, the resulting film is visually, intellectually, and musically compelling.

World-class original music for the film was composed by Roop Verma, a master sitar player and a protégé of the legendary Ravi Shankar; Henry Reid, a contributor to the Grammy-winning group Mannheim Steamroller; and virtuoso Tibetan musician Tashi Dhondrup Sharzur.

The 80 minute documentary has been selected for inclusion in over 38 film festivals around the world and has won awards 12 times including: Best Documentary Film - Monaco International Film Festival, Grand Jury Prize - Canada International Film Festival and Best Feature Documentary Film -Moondance International Film Festival. 
Actor Harrison Ford is the narrator for Dalai Lama Renaissance. Along with a strong acting career, he is engaged in works to preserve the environment and has also spoken before Congress about China and Tibet. Mr. Ford said: ”I narrated Dalai Lama Renaissance because I believe His Holiness (the Dalai  Lama) is making a positive influence in our world. For me the film represented an opportunity to continue assisting the optimistic efforts of an extraordinary individual”.

The film is being presented by Karma Thegsum Chöling Santa Cruz, a Buddhist practice and study center, established in 1976 by the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa. It is being shown as a benefit for the North American Kagyu Monlam which will be held in San Francisco June 29 - July 1, 2012. During the Monlom, teachers, monks, nuns, and lay people will gather to offer prayers for harmony and peace in the world.

Note: We hope to expand the post film discussion with the director to include one of the original participants in the conference as well as a member of the Santa Cruz community who has attended other conferences with the Dalai Lama.

For more information, please EMail ktcsantacruz@dewachen.org