admin | February 9, 2012

Coinciding with the Dalai Lama’s 2012 Summer European visit, Dalai Lama Renaissance (narrated by Harrison Ford) and Director Khashyar Darvich travel to the United Kingdom and Europe for an 8 week screening and Director Q&A tour May-June 2012

EUROPE – Can an award-winning film that presents the Dalai Lama’s transformational wisdom in action truly change audiences who watch it? How can the Dalai Lama’s message of compassion lead to a “Quantum Leap” from the head to the heart?

After 12 film festival awards, thousands of screenings around the world, and hundreds of  inspiring filmmaker Q&A’s, audiences this summer in the UK and Europe will experience those answers for themselves, as the Dalai Lama Renaissance Documentary Film and its director Khashyar Darvich travel to the UK and Europe in May 2012 to begin an 8 week UK and European screening and Director Q&A tour, in conjunction with His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s visits and teachings in Europe.

Previous organizers of the Dalai Lama’s visits the United States, Canada and around the world have invited Dalai Lama Renaissance and Director Darvich to appear at their events, and their audiences have commented that they have been moved by the experience.

Featuring the Dalai Lama, and narrated by actor Harrison Ford, the film tells the story of 40 Western innovative thinkers who travel to the Himalayan Mountains of India to meet with the Dalai Lama to solve many of the world’s problems. What happened was powerful and unexpected, and was captured by a five camera, 18 person crew.

The film features two of the starring quantum physicists from the hit theatrical documentary What the Bleep Do We Know, Fred Alan Wolf and Amit Goswami. Also appearing in Dalai Lama Renaissance are Michael Beckwith (who appears in The Secret), radio host and author Thom Hartmann, revolutionary social scientist Jean Houston, Vandana Shiva (social activist, The Corporation), and other prominent thinkers.

Amy Wong of LA Yoga Magazine writes: “it is a stunning tour-de-force [and an] intimate glimpse into the Dalai Lama’s life.”

Film Critic John Griffin of the Montreal Gazette calls Dalai Lama Renaissance “a provocative, even enlightening film… fascinating, ravishingly beautiful and sonically soothing.”

Film Threat Magazine’s Rick Kisonak said Dalai Lama Renaissance is a “comedy sensation,” adding, “I can’t remember the last time a movie made me laugh so hard.”

Audiences around the world have shared that the film screening and Q&A by Director Khashyar Darvich is more like a transformational event than just a film screening.

“Be prepared to leave the Dalai Lama Renaissance event a different person than when you first arrived,” commented Debbie from a screening during the film’s Australian’s tour.  “I was thoroughly inspired by both the film and Khashyar Darvich’s Q&A.”

“I look forward to traveling to the United Kingdom and Europe,” says Director Khashyar Darvich, “to share the film with European  audiences, as well as speaking with them about the inner journey of personal transformation, in the presence of the Dalai Lama, that was captured in the film.”

Dalai Lama Renaissance has screened in cinemas in several countries around the world, and will screen during the European tour in English, as well as subtitled in French, Italian and Spanish.

The tentative film tour schedule includes:

May 30 – June 2 – Italy (Milan, Trieste, Rome, Sicily)

June 4-14 – Scotland (Dumfries, Findhorn, Glasgow, Inverness, Edinburgh, Dundee)

June 15-30 – England/Wales (Carlisle, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Brighton, Cambridge, Oxford)

July 1-6 – Ireland (Cork, Limerick, Galway, Castlebar, Cavan, Dublin)

July 7-10 – London, England

July 11-31 – Europe

You may watch the trailer for the film, at: www.DalaiLamaFilm.com, or on the film’s Facebook page: www.Facebook.com/DalaiLamaFilm

If you are interested in hosting a film screening and Director Q&A, or know of a cinema or organization that might be interested in hosting a film screening event, please contact Wakan Films at: Bookings (at) DalaiLamaFilm (dot) com.

Category: "Dalai Lama Renaissance" Talk, Dalai Lama Schedule and Tickets, News about "Dalai Lama Renaissance" | No Comments »
Tags:

Khashyar | October 30, 2011

by Gayle Gregory

Truth is so rare and so astounding when you meet it face-to-face. A sadness, a burgeoning of compassion, often settles in as I become aware of the infrequency of real, close to the bone, human interaction.  My heart aches for its presence, to hear truth’s pure voice. It speaks so many delicious languages: the language of raw hurt and pain, of the slow and tender acceptance that life won’t work out in the ways we long for, of shamed but willing disclosure, of recognition – that one’s words weren’t quite accurate, and with that, a deep listening for what is in actuality, true right now. When it is accurate and authentic, it also speaks of joy, caring, beauty, and of love. All these languages have a common foundation – a trust in this that is unfolding as our human experience, and if not trust, at the least, simple surrender to life’ twists and turns and our inability to alter this moment.

For many, myself once included, prison seems a surprising place to find truth and yet, there it is.  We have been filming at Oregon State Correctional Institution (OSCI) since June 2010 when I invited Khashyar Darvich to screen “The Dalai Lama Renaissance” for the inmates. Yesterday was our sixth day inside the walls and once again, the experience enriched us all as we listened to five inmates share their stories for a documentary on compassion and forgiveness. Each of us, film crew and prison staff, were deeply impacted. As we talked about our experience later we became consciously aware that we had been in the presence of truth. The truth had touched us, was felt in each of our bodies, minds, and souls.  It resonated loudly, purely, with an uncommon energy and yet, as uncommon as it was, it felt natural, healing, like we had discovered the missing ingredient of life.

I have been volunteering at OSCI for four years now, and likely, for many years to come. Why? The men and their ability to be vulnerable, their hunger to learn and grow, their desire for spiritual freedom, and most of all, their willingness to pay whatever price is required. Having lost community, status, money, reputation, and most of their ability to choose, many consciously enter onto the spiritual path, looking for peace, hope, and comfort – peace of mind in meditation, hope for insights into reality, and the comfort of belonging to a spiritual family.  They look for redemption and perhaps, more that we on the outside, perhaps not, they withhold it from themselves with their conviction of their unworthiness, needing forgiveness from their victim or victim’s family, a forgiveness that may never come.

This is the raw material with which the inmates work. Can I accept the possibility of life in prison, of dying without those I loved knowing how much I changed? Can I live with my crime, without the forgiveness that my heart cries for? Can I learn to forgive myself regardless of how others react to me? Can I see through the darkness of my past into the light within? Can I be here, now, without any needs at all? Questions like these lead the men into their truth, into the resistance, into the pain, into the reality that lies just beneath the surface so they can meet the conditioned beliefs and fears and learn to be present with their reality, whatever it is. Unlike most, the men aren’t afraid to admit to their fears, to share them openly and lay them on the table before us.  They have learned the power of transparency, fully aware that secrecy is a soul killer.

Khashyar is crafting a powerful film. I am ready for it to be finished and to share its timely and potent message with the world. And yet, I trust Khashyar’s instincts for what is needed to make it even more powerful. Having been present for the interviews I can’t imagine the experience being more powerful for the audience, but I know the finished product will be. Khashyar has many more interviews planned to tap into the wisdom of our world – the Dalai Lama and others. So I live in patience, something the men can teach us all.

Truth – feel it in your bones. Feel it in your heart. Let it resonate throughout your entire life and watch as it transforms our world. When the movie premieres you will see it on the screen and its pure power will rewrite much of what you believe to be true.

–
Gayle Gregory
Coach|Speaker|Author
gayle.a.gregory (at) gmail (dot) com

To find more information about the ‘Dalai Lama Renaissance’ documentary film (which is narrated by actor Harrison Ford), please visit: www.DalaiLamaFilm.com. Producer-Director Khashyar Darvich’s new DVD project, “Illumination Matrix: Shifting into a New Dimension,” will be released at the end of November 2011. More information about “Illumination Matrix” can be found here: www.IlluminationMatrix.com

Category: "Dalai Lama Renaissance" Talk, News, News about "Dalai Lama Renaissance" | No Comments »
Tags:

Khashyar | October 1, 2011

LETTERS from the Heart: I feel grateful when I receive letters from viewers of DLR who warm-heartedly express how much they have been impacted by the film.

Director Khashyar Darvich after signing a DVD for an audience member after a film screening of DLR

It’s touching to receive emails from around the world from viewers of ‘Dalai Lama Renaissance’ who have been touched and impacted in some way by the film. I feel humbled, honored and grateful as I read them.

I would like to share two recent letters with you.

The first letter came from a viewer from San Francisco:

Dear Khashyar Darvich:

My name is [C] and I live in Mountain View, CA about 45 minutes south of San Francisco.  I recently watched your beautiful film Dalai Lama Renaissance and it changed my life.  I am on a path of spiritual awakening, and your film was such an important step in my amazing journey.

I noticed that Netflix and Blockbuster didn’t offer it for rent, so despite my tight budget, I purchased it.  I had a higher calling to see this film and there was no other way to see it.  Buying the DVD was definitely money well spent.

Is there any way that we could make it available to Netflix and Blockbuster so that other people, perhaps on even tighter budgets than myself, can have the opportunity to watch it?  Also I noticed that my local public library did not have it available.  I’m not sure if you do not like the commercial values of businesses like Netflix and Blockbuster, or if these companies just need to be contacted and asked to purchase DVD’s and have them available for rent.

The more people who watch your enlightening film, the better…it benefits the individual as well as families and communities.  If there is any way I can help in this process, please let me know.  I’d love to be a part of a project that is doing so much good.

Sincerely

[C]

*****

A second letter I received recently, was sent from Europe:

Dear Mr. Khashyar Darvich,

Your movie “Dalai Lama Renaissance” has had a great impact on my creative and personal life, I would therefore like to thank you for that impact.

If I remember correctly you once said in an interview that the whole process of making of the Dalai Lama Renaissance movie was a personal and spiritual journey. I feel the exact same thing about my music. Everytime I write a tune, strike a chord, look for sound, I feel as if I go on a inner journey towards myself. That’s why I’ve called my musical and creative project “Dalai Lama Renaissance”, as an allusion to your movie and the spiritual feeling music gives me.

I’ll be releasing an (electronic-mindend) album in Europe shortly (November) and I was wondering if you have any problems whatsoever with me using your movie title as a musical project/band name.

It just crossed my mind that it would be polite to ask your permission in using this name as a bandname in the future.

Yours Sincerely,

J.C.

Category: "Dalai Lama Renaissance" Talk, News about "Dalai Lama Renaissance" | No Comments »
Tags:

Khashyar | September 30, 2011

ROME, ITALY – In a recent film review, the prestigious Italian film magazine ‘FilmTV’ called the ‘Dalai Lama Renaissance’ documentary film “an Illuminating document,” in a Spring 2011 issue of their magazine.

They describe the personal transformation that occurs in the film as being “the journey of a group of eminent scholars and writers to the place of spiritual leadership in India [which] becomes a metaphor for a journey within oneself.”

‘Dalai Lama Renaissance’ (which is narrated by Harrison Ford) was released with Italian subtitles in Italy in the Spring of 2011, and has been released in several other countries and languages, including in German, Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, Chinese, English and other languages.

It is the winner of 12 awards, and is the official selection of over 40 international film festivals.

Bob Graham of the ‘San Francisco Bay Times’ calls the film “an extraordinary portrait of His Holiness at work… [the film includes] some of the best comic scenes in any new film out there right now.”

The DVD of ‘Dalai Lama Renaissance’ is available on the film’s website: www.DalaiLamaFilm.com

The Italian release of the film includes a booklet with interviews with Director Khashyar Darvich and other information.

The following is the Italian and English text of the FilmTV review:

ENGLISH (Google Translation):

Alternative Visions

Born with a purpose ambitious project Macroticonzero young home video publisher that aims to tell, in the series documentary conscious, new styles of life and thought.
Garde to the mystical, from ecology to new technologies, it outlines an interdisciplinary journey in achieving the synthesis has the potential for unexpected change, unprecedented.
Synthesis is an encounter of opposites, the fusion of contrasting perspectives, openness to sharing. It is the thread that ties the stories shown in the documentary Macroticonzero. As in Dalai Lama Renaissance, where the journey of a group of eminent scholars and writers to the place of spiritual leadership in India becomes a metaphor for a journey within oneself, one’s own culture and their faith. The result is a confrontation / clash between selfishness and narrowness of vision “Western” requires the involvement of Eastern wisdom, the irony of a man able to experience a genuine feeling of compassion for their fellow humans, making them rediscover the disruptive revolutionary charge. And the real antidote to the conditions of existential malaise that go under the name of greed, fear and indifference, becomes the change in perspective, the ability to go beyond the mere sphere of the individual to feel part of humanity that becomes a whole, real synthesis of its constituent parts. A document illuminating.

*****

ITALIAN Language:

Visioni Alternative

Nasce con un fine ambizioso il progetto di Macroticonzero, giovane casa video editrice che si propone di raccontare, nella collana documentaristica Ecoscienze, nuovi stili di vita e di pensiero.
Dall’avanguardia alla mistica, dall’ecologia alle nuove tecnologie, si delinea un viaggio interdisciplinare che ha nel raggiungimento della sintesi un potenziale di cambiamento inaspettato, senza precedenti.
Sintesi è incontro degli opposti, fusione di prospettive contrastanti, apertura alla condivisione. Ed è il filo rosso che lega le storie mostrate nei documentari di Macroticonzero. Come in Dalai Lama Renaissance, dove il viaggio di un gruppo di eminenti studiosi e letterati verso la sede della guida spirituale in India diventa metafora di un viaggio all’interno di se stessi, della propria cultura e della propria fede. Ne deriva un confronto/scontro che tra egoismi e ristrettezza di visioni “all’occidentale” necessita dell’intervento della saggezza orientale, dell’ironia di un uomo in grado di provare un genuino sentimento di compassione per i propri simili, facendone riscoprire la dirompente carica rivoluzionaria. E il vero antidoto alle condizioni di malessere esistenziale che vanno sotto il nome di avidità, paura e indifferenza diventa il mutamento di prospettiva, la capacità di andare oltre la mera sfera individuale per sentirsi parte di un’umanità che diventa un tutto, reale sintesi delle parti che la costituiscono. Un documento illuminante.

Category: News about "Dalai Lama Renaissance", Reviews and Articles about "Dalai Lama Renaissance" | No Comments »
Tags:

Khashyar | September 17, 2011

Dalai  Lama Renaissance Film to be Highlighted in A&E TV Network’s ‘Biography’ Program about actor Harrison Ford

The ‘Biography’ TV episode will air in several international markets around the world, and will feature the fact that Harrison Ford narrated the Dalai Lama Renaissance documentary film (www.DalaiLamaFilm.com).

NEW YORK – Dalai Lama Renaissance, the award-winning documentary film narrated by actor Harrison Ford and featuring the 14th Dalai Lama, will be highlighted in the Arts and Entertainment TV Network’s ‘Biography’ program about the life and career of the legendary actor.

“I narrated Dalai Lama Renaissance,” says Harrison Ford, “because I believe His Holiness 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 Dalai Lama Renaissance film (www.DalaiLamaFilm.com), produced and directed by Khashyar Darvich, won 12 awards, was the official selection of over 40 international film festivals, and screened in hundreds of cinemas around the world, including in over 100 cities in the United States. The DVD of the film, as well as the follow-up DVD, Dalai Lama Renaissance Vol 2: A Revolution of Ideas, are now available on the film’s website.

Featuring the Dalai Lama, Dalai Lama Renaissance tells the story of 40 Western innovative thinkers who travel to the Himalayan Mountains of India to meet with the Dalai Lama to solve many of the world’s problems. What happened was powerful and unexpected, and was captured by a five camera, 18 person crew.

After one of Darvich’s interviews with the Dalai Lama, the Dalai Lama affirmed Darvich’s motivations in producing films: “Yes I like your questions,” the Dalai Lama told Darvich, as the two were standing together talking after the interview. “Certainly, your effort can make some contribution—there’s no doubt.”

Dalai Lama Renaissance is only among a small handful of documentaries that Harrison Ford has chosen to narrate during his career. Ford has starred in such blockbuster films as Raiders of the Lost Ark & the Indiana Jones movies, Star Wars, The Fugitive, Witness, and many others. Harrison Ford’s films have one of the highest combined worldwide box office grosses (over $5.5 billion) of any actor in history.

The film features two of the starring quantum physicists from the hit theatrical documentary What the Bleep Do We Know, Fred Alan Wolf and Amit Goswami. Also appearing in Dalai Lama Renaissance are Michael Beckwith (who appears in The Secret), radio host and author Thom Hartmann, revolutionary social scientist Jean Houston, Vandana Shiva (social activist, The Corporation), and other prominent thinkers.

Harrison Ford has previously expressed his support for the Dalai Lama and the cause of Tibetan Independence. In 1995, Harrison Ford spoke before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and testified that: “The Tibetan struggle is no ordinary freedom struggle. The courageous men and women in Tibet have chosen the path laid out by their leader, His Holiness the Dalai Lama. It is a path of non-violence– a path that too few peoples around the world have dared to try… As an American who cares deeply about justice, freedom and democracy, I can tell you that this is a cause that touches at the core of our own values.”

Films starring such big name stars as Richard Gere and Sharon Stone were boycotted by China after the actors expressed support for the Tibet Independence Movement. After Disney released Kundun, Martin Scorsese’s 1997 feature film about the Dalai Lama, the studio incurred the wrath of the Chinese government, and Disney films were banned for an indefinite period of time.

Ford’s former wife, screenwriter Melissa Mathison, wrote the screenplay for Kundun.

The Chinese Government took notice when Dalai Lama Renaissance was released theatrically in Taiwan in the Chinese language and received front page positive press in Taiwanese newspapers.

The People’s Daily, a daily newspaper and media arm of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, quickly and sharply criticized Dalai Lama Renaissance, writing that the film describes “the Chinese government’s peaceful liberation of Tibet as ‘cruel oppression,’ [and] …what these movies depict is just the ‘anesthesia’ given by the Dalai Lama to the West.”

In contrast, Taiwanese newspapers gave the film rave reviews. The Taipei Times wrote that “the film rapidly grabs hold of you… an insightful documentary.”

On the front page of the Taiwanese The Liberty Times, Harrison Ford was called a ‘Hero’ for narrating the documentary.

Film Critic John Griffin of the Montreal Gazette calls Dalai Lama Renaissance “a provocative, even enlightening film” and “fascinating, ravishingly beautiful and sonically soothing.”

Amy Wong of LA Yoga Magazine writes: “it is a stunning tour-de-force [and an] intimate glimpse into the Dalai Lama’s life.”
The DVD for Dalai Lama Renaissance, which includes over 105 minutes of additional Special Features, is available now at: www.DalaiLamaFilm.com. The follow-up to the film, entitled Dalai Lama Renaissance Vol 2: A Revolution of Ideas, is also available on DVD.

Director Khashyar Darvich’s new documentary film is The Matrix of Compassion (www.MatrixOfCompassion.com) which features the Dalai Lama, the Karmapa Lama, and others, and is about an inner journey of personal transformation through India, and includes living in an India slum. The Matrix of Compassion will be released in 2012.

The A&E Network, which is jointly owned by the Walt Disney Company, NBCUniversal and the Hearst Corporation, reaches more than 85 million homes in the United States and Canada. A&E’s ‘Biography’ series is broadcast in several languages and countries throughout the world. A&E Television Networks also owns the History Channel and the Biography Channel.

Category: "Dalai Lama Renaissance" Talk, News about "Dalai Lama Renaissance" | No Comments »
Tags:

Khashyar | December 3, 2010

The film and its American Director, Khashyar Darvich, travel to Canberra, Australia for one night only, for a special premiere screening and Director Q&A beginning at 7 p.m.

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA – After winning 12 awards, and screening in hundreds of cities around the world, the ‘Dalai Lama Renaissance’ Documentary Film and Director Khashyar Darvich, travel to Canberra, Australia on December 12 for a special Canberra premiere screening, as a part of a 5 week Australian screening and Director Q&A tour.

The special screening and Director Q&A begin at 7 p.m., and will be held at the Sakyamuni Buddhist Centre at 32 Archibald St, Lyneham (Canberra), ACT.

The screening will also serve as a fundraiser for flood victims of the recent devastating floods in Vietnam, that has killed hundreds of Vietnamese and left many thousands homeless.

Featuring the Dalai Lama, and narrated by actor Harrison Ford, the film (www.DalaiLamaFilm.com) tells the story of 40 Western innovative thinkers who travel to the Himalayan Mountains of India to meet with the Dalai Lama to solve many of the world’s problems. What happened was powerful and unexpected, and was captured by a five camera, 18 person crew.

The film features two of the starring quantum physicists from the hit theatrical documentary ‘What the Bleep Do We Know,’ Fred Alan Wolf and Amit Goswami. Also appearing in ‘Dalai Lama Renaissance’ are Michael Beckwith (who appears in ‘The Secret’), radio host and author Thom Hartmann, revolutionary social scientist Jean Houston, Vandana Shiva (social activist, “The Corporation”), and other prominent thinkers.

Director Khashyar Darvich was recently interviewed by ABC Radio National host Rachael Cohn on her program “The Spirit of Things.” The interview and discussion about ‘Dalai Lama Renaissance’ will air nationally in Australia on ABC radio on Sunday December 5.

Amy Wong of LA Yoga Magazine writes the film is: “a stunning tour-de-force [and an] intimate glimpse into the Dalai Lama’s life.”

Film Critic John Griffin of the Montreal Gazette calls ‘Dalai Lama Renaissance’ “a provocative, even enlightening film… fascinating, ravishingly beautiful and sonically soothing.”

Film Threat Magazine’s Rick Kisonak said “Dalai Lama Renaissance” is a “comedy sensation,” adding, “I can’t remember the last time a movie made me laugh so hard.”

“I look forward to traveling to Canberra,” says Director Khashyar Darvich, “to share the film with Canberra audiences, as well as speaking with them about the inner journey of personal transformation, in the presence of the Dalai Lama, that was captured in the film. I also am happy that the film will server as a fundraiser to help flood victims in Vietnam.”

The Dalai Lama has visited Canberra on a number of occasions during his visits to Australia. The Abbot of the Van Hanh Monastery, Ven. Thich Quang, is on the organizing hosting committee of the Dalai Lama’s visits to Canberra.

The Australian ‘Dalai Lama Renaissance’ film tour began in Sydney on November 26, with sold out screenings and an enthusiastic response from audience there.

The film and filmmaker also travel to Melbourne on December 8 for a screening at the Palace Kino, and then to Brisbane on December 14 where the film will open at the Palace Centro, as well as to Perth and Albany.

For a complete schedule of all the Australian screenings, please visit: www.DalaiLamaFilm.com/events

Tickets to the Canberra premiere screening are $20, and can be purchased at the door, or in advance by calling the Sakyamuni Buddhist Centre at: 0412-224-553, or by email to:  thichquangba (at) gmail (dot) com

To schedule a press interview with Director Khashyar Darvich, please contact Amanda-Sumner-Potts at: amandasp (at) bigpond (dot) com or Wakan Films at: Press (at) DalaiLamaFilm (dot) com.

Category: News about "Dalai Lama Renaissance", Screenings and Events for "Dalai Lama Renaissance" (discussions and info) | No Comments »
Tags: