Mickey Lemle’s new feature documentary, The Last Dalai Lama?, has been selected by the Mill Valley Film Festival (MVFF) for presentation at their 39th annual event, October 6–16. The programmers described it as “a very powerful and intimate portrait of an extraordinary individual.” Buddhist Film Foundation will be a co-presenter. Lemle’s previous film, Ram Dass Fierce Grace, was an official selection of the 24th MVFF.
Director Lemle filmed extensively with the Dalai Lama, with a palpable intimacy made possible by the 30-year relationship they share. Lemle’s widely seen 1991 film Compassion in Exile: The 14th Dalai Lama was a breakthrough profile that featured extensive rare archival footage from Tibet. In the new film, the Dalai Lama speaks candidly about the issues that come with aging that can disquiet the mind: regrets, unfulfilled dreams, frustrations, and the inevitability of death. His Holiness shared his personal perspective on each of those subjects, and explored the persistent questions about his next reincarnation.
The film also includes interviews with Daniel Goleman, Richard Davidson, Matthieu Ricard, George W. Bush, and members of the Dalai Lama’s family, and features the music of Philip Glass.
