Category: Filmography ENG

Directors: Helen S. Cohen and Mark Lipman
Year: 2014
Country: USA
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Duration: 74 minutes
Tradition: Buddhism
Themes: Healing, transformation, and the resilience of the human spirit

Synopsis:
This documentary tells the story of Dr. Grace Dammann, a physician who has devoted her life to caring for AIDS patients. Her life is upended after a head-on collision on the Golden Gate Bridge, which leaves her with severe injuries. The film follows her long and arduous journey of physical and emotional recovery as she confronts the challenges of adapting to a radically changed life. The documentary connects to Buddhism primarily through Dr. Dammann’s personal perspective and spiritual practice.

Director: Benjamin D. Johns
Year: 2019
Country: Mongolia
Language: Mongolian
Genre: Documentary
Duration: 1 hour and 50 minutes
Tradition: Tibetan Buddhism
Theme: Mongolian Buddhism

Synopsis: Narrated by Academy Award winner Sir Ben Kingsley, this documentary is a cinematic portrait of the renowned Mongolian Buddhist leader, Khamba Lama Natsagdorj. Faith and science are reconciled as we delve into the Lama’s tireless humanitarian efforts. The film offers a valuable introduction to Mongolia’s rich cultural and religious heritage, its customs, and everyday life. It also explores Buddhist philosophy and traditional local medicine.

Director: Samuel Stefan
Year: 2015
Country: USA
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Duration: 59 minutes
Theme: Meditation, mindfulness

Synopsis:
The transformation brought by mindfulness meditation in the business world — a critical examination that unveils what lies behind the façade of this modern spiritual phenomenon. This analysis seeks to unravel how this increasingly popular practice in the corporate world is influencing both work and personal dynamics, and what implications it holds beyond its superficial appearance.

Director: Zhang Yang
Year: 2015
Country: China
Language: Tibetan
Genre: Documentary
Duration: [Information not available]
Tradition: Buddhism
Theme: Pilgrimage, spirituality, Tibetan culture.

Synopsis:
This documentary follows the extraordinary journey of a group of Tibetan pilgrims who walk more than 1,200 kilometers on foot to Lhasa, the sacred city of Tibet. Capturing every step of their arduous journey, the film offers an intimate look at their devotion and endurance as they prostrate themselves along the entire route in a gesture of reverence. Blending elements of fiction and reality, the documentary immerses viewers in the spiritual and communal experience of the pilgrims.

Director: Kon Ichikawa
Year: 1956
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese
Genre: Drama
Duration: 116 minutes

Themes: War, peace, redemption, and the search for humanity in times of conflict.

Synopsis: Set in the final days of World War II, the film tells the story of a platoon of Japanese soldiers in Burma. Mizushima, a soldier who plays the harp, becomes separated from his unit and embarks on a spiritual journey after witnessing the devastation and suffering caused by the war. Disguised as a Buddhist monk, he faces a moral dilemma between his duty to his comrades and his desire to dedicate his life to burying the dead.Synopsis: Set in the final days of World War II, the film tells the story of a platoon of Japanese soldiers in Burma. Mizushima, a soldier who plays the harp, becomes separated from his unit and embarks on a spiritual journey after witnessing the devastation and suffering caused by the war. Disguised as a Buddhist monk, he faces a moral dilemma between his duty to his comrades and his desire to dedicate his life to burying the dead.

Director: Khyentse Norbu
Year: 1999
Country: Bhutan
Language: Tibetan
Genre: Comedy, drama
Duration: 93 minutes
Tradition: Tibetan Buddhism
Themes: Modernity and tradition, monastic culture, football

Synopsis:
In a Tibetan monastery in exile in India, a group of young monks live between Buddhist rituals and an unexpected passion: football. As the France 98 World Cup final approaches, one novice goes to great lengths to watch the match, triggering a series of comical and profound situations that reveal the tension between tradition and modernity.

Title: Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom
Director: Pawo Choyning Dorji
Year: 2019
Country: Bhutan
Language: Dzongkha
Genre: Drama
Duration: 109 minutes
Tradition: Himalayan Buddhism
Themes: education, vocation, inner transformation

Synopsis: Ugyen, a young teacher dreaming of migrating to Australia, is sent to teach at a remote school in Lunana, a Himalayan village without electricity. What starts as a punishment becomes a journey of self-discovery, human connection, and spiritual learning.

Title: Milarepa
Director: Neten Chokling
Year: 2006
Country: Bhutan
Language: Dzongkha
Genre: Biography
Duration: 90 minutes
Tradition: Tibetan Buddhism
Themes: Buddhism, karma, redemption, and the spiritual path.
Synopsis: A cinematic biography that tells the story of Milarepa, one of Tibet’s most revered yogis and an important poet and saint in Tibetan Buddhism.
The film focuses on the early years of Milarepa’s life, including his pursuit of revenge, his deep remorse, and his eventual path toward enlightenment under the guidance of his teacher Marpa.

Director: Rick Ray

Year: 2006

Country: USA

Language: English

Genre: Documentary

Duration: 1 hour 25 minutes

Tradition: Tibetan Buddhism

Theme: The Dalai Lama

Synopsis: The documentary follows Rick Ray on his journey through India with the aim of interviewing Tenzin Gyatso. Throughout the narrative, the film shifts between the present and recent episodes from the past, using various stages of the journey to explore Tenzin Gyatso’s personal history, the process by which a Dalai Lama is chosen, and Gyatso’s path into exile.

Director: Chico Dall’Inha · Year: 2017 · Country: United Kingdom · Language: Tibetan · Genre: documentary · Duration: 96 minutes

Tradition: Tibetan Buddhism

Theme: the life of Akong Tulku Rinpoche

Synopsis: The documentary narrates the life of Akong Tulku Rinpoche, a prominent master of Tibetan Buddhism. He travels from his birth in Tibet to his pivotal role in establishing Samye Ling in the UK, the first Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Europe. Through its history, its influence and legacy in the spread of Tibetan Buddhism in the West is highlighted.