Wisdom of Happiness
New Film with HH the Dalai Lama

[asian man with shaved head, bushy eyebrows, maroon and gold robes, and deep red shawl draped over his shoulders, sits in a large chair covered in gold and maroon blankets to the left of a dark cabinet topped with a large bouquet of white, yellow, orange, and red flowers in a white vase, along with other personal items, with eyes closed and fingertips touching below his head tilted forward]

After its West Coast Premiere as an International Buddhist Film Festival (IBFF) Official Selection, Wisdom of Happiness has been launched into theaters in a dozen countries. Richard Gere is an executive producer, and the longterm chairman of the International Campaign for Tibet has attended screenings in Europe, Mexico, Canada, and the U.S.

[asian man with shaved head, bushy eyebrows, maroon and gold robes, and red shawl draped on his left shoulder, speaks to camera while holding a small ball of the earth in with his left hand fingers, while gesturing with a raised right hand]In what is likely to be the last extensive filmed testimony of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, this film captures him in an intimate heart-to-heart, the world’s greatest ambassador of compassion inviting everyone along for a journey to the source of happiness.

The film, directed by Swiss filmmakers Barbara Miller, Philip Delaquois, and Manuel Bauer, features a unique interview with the 14th Dalai Lama in his residence in Dharamsala, india, utilizing the interrotron, an optical device that allows the subject to look right into the camera rather than at the interviewer off to the side. This brings him into eye contact with the audience as if he were speaking directly to them.

As he approached his 90th birthday, the Dalai Lama reflected on his life, balancing millennia-old Tibetan Buddhist traditions with contemporary values of our globalized society that now struggles to overcome violence and war while at the brink of environmental collapse. “While happiness is born in each of us, only the cultivation of unconditional compassion for one another will transform the world.”

[poster with dark purplish-black background with profile of asian man with shaved head, glasses, and deep red robes, at left side looking towards a view of the global earth floating above his left hand, all above stacked white serif cap type that reads wisdom of happiness with additional illegible very small white type below]Theater screenings across North America have been selling out, with guest hosts attending in New York and California including Richard Gere, Michael Imperioli, Peter Coyote, Zoketsu Norman Fisher, Nina Wise, and others. A special online premiere was produced with frequent IBFF collaborator BuddhaFest/Wisdom for Life, reaching several thousand viewers via a Gathr platform video-on-demand. The film qualified for consideration for the Academy Award® for Best Documentary Feature.

Community screenings are being organized, and educational venues are being secured. For a list of upcoming screenings, the trailer, and more information, visit the Wisdom of Happiness official website.