Khashyar | March 26, 2010

We have received many requests for screenings of the ‘Dalai Lama Renaissance’ documentary film (narrated by Harrison Ford), from theaters, organizations, churches, Buddhist & yoga centers, as well as requests for a personal appearance and Q&A from the film’s Producer-Director, Khashyar Darvich.

To accommodate requests, as well as share ‘Dalai Lama Renaissance’ with as many audiences as possible, ‘Dalai Lama Renaissance’ documentary film Producer-Director Khashyar Darvich will be traveling across the United States and Canada with the film to participate in screenings and Q&A’s with audiences, beginning April 2010.

‘Dalai Lama Renaissance’ has screened in hundreds of cinemas around the world, including in cinemas in several countries. Producer-Director Khashyar Darvich has also brought ‘Dalai Lama Renaissance’ into prisons and schools.

If you are interested in scheduling a screening and personal appearance of the film’s director, then please review the schedule below for available dates, and please email us at:

bookings (at) DalaiLamaFilm.com

Here is the current tour schedule of the ‘Dalai Lama Renaissance’ film (where Producer-Director Khashyar Darvich will also be appearing to participate in an audience Q&A) :

-April 8-12 – Springfield, Missouri

- April 13 – Cedar Falls, Iowa – Maucker Union Old Central Ballroom – University of Northern Iowa

-May 19 – Collingwood, Ontario Canada

- June 06 – Costa Mesa, California

-June 10 – Salem, Oregon – Screening for Prison inmates

Thank you again for wanting to share ‘Dalai Lama Renaissance’ with your community.

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Khashyar | January 19, 2010

The Dalai Lama Renaissance film, narrated by Harrison Ford (www.DalaiLamaFilm.com), and a Q&A with Director Khashyar Darvich, offer insights on inner peace to men behind bars, half of whom are incarcerated for murder.

HOUSTON, TX – In a rare opportunity to contemplate the nature of their own existence and explore the essence of inner peace, dozens of inmates at two Texas prisons gained insights during screenings of the award-winning documentary film Dalai Lama Renaissance, narrated by Harrison Ford (www.DalaiLamaFilm.com). The film screened at the prisons as part of an ethics program organized by “Project Clear Light,” a nonprofit Buddhist volunteer organization that works with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, and is scheduled to screen at other prisons across the United States in the coming months.

“There is such joy in being able to show films like Dalai Lama Renaissance to inmates,” said Terry Conrad, a certified volunteer Chaplain’s assistant, and Director of Project Clear Light. “It is so rewarding to sit in meditation and have a conversation with them about what is really important, and to understand who we are and what we are capable of.”

Conrad asked the film’s Producer-Director, Khashyar Darvich, to show Dalai Lama Renaissance to inmates whom Conrad regularly meets with and teaches. With approval from prison administrators, two screenings were scheduled: one in the Stiles prison in Beaumont, Texas, and one in Ramsey prison, south of Houston. Darvich then volunteered to fly to Texas to speak with inmates after each screening. About half of the inmates in the prison audiences were convicted of murder.

“The intention of making this film was to impact audiences in a positive way,” said Director-Producer Khashyar Darvich of Wakan Films. “I had never been to a prison before, but I had a deep sense that inmates may have something to say about the film’s theme of overcoming the ego and opening one’s heart.”

Both Darvich’s and Conrad’s purpose in screening the film for inmates was to provide them with a message that urges them to focus on improving themselves from the inside out.

“I heard the Dalai Lama talking about the importance of compassion for compassion’s sake, because it’s the right thing to do,” said David, an inmate at the Ramsey Unit. “Because that’s what makes you happy inside, it’s what helps you develop inner peace…. When he started talking about it, I just started getting tingly all over…. It really touched me.”

“What I thought was so profound about the film was the child-like simplicity of the Dalai Lama and the profoundness of his understanding of how human nature and humanity works,” said Deon, another inmate at Ramsey.

The award-winning film, which is narrated by Harrison Ford, and has screened in hundreds of cinemas around the world in several languages, follows a group of Westerners who travel to India with the task of solving world problems under the spiritual guidance of the Dalai Lama. The film contrasts the Westerners’ intellectual approach to problem-solving against the enlightened approach of the Dalai Lama, and illustrates how the participants experience a profound personal transformation.

Besides opportunities for introspection, the film also offered inmates some chances to laugh at the imperfection of humanity.

“It was funny to see these super-smart people and realize that they were too smart for the task,” said Jason, a prisoner at Ramsey, about the scientists and other world thought-leaders in the film.

Inmate Kelly added, “I saw something in the Dalai Lama that I now see in my own personal life, which is joy and compassion and peace.”

At both prisons, the inmates were attentive to the film and looked for ways to apply its lessons to their personal lives.

“I took a few notes, but I feel like I missed about 20,000 more than I was able to put down,” said John, an inmate at Stiles prison.

Fellow Stiles inmate Antoine added, “I could watch something like this every day, especially in the environment I’m in. You know, it’s like a snake pit. But if you’ve got inner peace, you will affect every person around.”

Darvich plans to offer the film for screenings at other prisons around the country, and would like to attend and speak with other inmate groups in person.

“The fundamental intention of making this film was to impact and transform audiences in a positive way,” Darvich said,  “and I can think of no better place to screen the film than a prison.”

Details about Dalai Lama Renaissance and prison screenings are available at www.DalaiLamaFilm.com.

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Khashyar | December 17, 2009

Dates of Screening: February 24, 2010

Film being screening: Dalai Lama Renaissance Documentary Film (narrated by Harrison Ford) – (and Q&A with Producer-Director)

Screening Venue: One Bodhi Tree

Address: One Bodhi Tree, 2620 Capitol Avenue, Sacramento, CA 95765

Website: www.onebodhitree.org

Contact Phone: 916-705-3261

Contact Email: ravi.verma (at) telecommand.com

Additional Details: Screening of the “Dalai Lama Renaissance” Documentary Film. Producer-Director Khashyar Darvich will appear in person for a Q&A with audience after the screening. Address of Screening: One Bodhi Tree, 2620 Capitol Avenue, Sacramento, CA 95765; Contact Email: ravi.verma (at) telecommand.com. Note, a screening of the second DVD of the series, ‘Dalai Lama Renaissance Vol 2: A Revolution of Ideas,” will take place on February 27.

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Khashyar | November 13, 2009

HOUSTON, Texas – When documentary film Producer-Director Khashyar Darvich was invited to screen his award-winning film about the Dalai Lama, ‘Dalai Lama Renaissance’ (narrated by Harrison Ford – www.DalaiLamaFilm.com), for inmates in maximum security prisons near Houston, Texas, he immediately said ‘yes.’

He offered to purchase his own an airline ticket, attend the screenings, and then speak with the inmates afterwards.

“I had never been to a prison before,” said Director Darvich. “But, I had a deep feeling that the experience would be meaningful and powerful, for the inmates, but also for me.”

“When I sense that my heart responds to something, and I feel warmth in my chest, then I take this as a clear sign that it is the right thing for me to pursue that course of action. The fundamental intention of making this film was to impact and transform audiences in a positive way,” Darvich says,  “and I thought of no better place to screen ‘Dalai Lama Renaissance’ than a prison.”

Half of the inmates who attended the screenings in the two Texas prisons, were convicted of murder, some of them for double murder. There were some in the audience who were convicted of fraud.

However, Darvich was very surprised at how insightful and intelligent the inmates comments were about the film, and how the inmates applied the themes and insights in the film to themselves in a very personal and direct way.

“One of the main themes of the film,” says Darvich, “is resolving both inner and outer conflicts, and understanding that the best way to resolve conflicts in the world and in your community is to first resolve issues within yourself. I was very surprised at how the inmates understood this right away, and applied the message of the film immediately and effortlessly to themselves.”

One of the inmates in the Stiles maximum security prison in Texas, was emotional and expressed, as he pointed his fingers to his chest, that the issue of Tibet and China mentioned in the film and the realization that we all have our own “Inner Tibets,” really impacted him.

“One of the realizations that was crystal clear to me while I was at the prisons,” Darvich says, “was that some of the inmates would never be able to get out, and were to spend every day of their lives in prison. For most people, this would be a depressing and unfathomable thought. Before I visited the prisons, just imagining the thought of being incarcerated created fear and panic within me.”

Many of the inmates who attended the screenings have life sentences, and had a lot of time to think and reflect.

And yet, Darvich says, a person who is not physically in prison, can appear to have all of the freedom in the world, and yet be imprisoned by their thoughts, habits and the jail that they create within their own mind.

“Inmates who lose their freedom through their mistakes and actions,” Darvich says, “can choose to see their time in prison as an opportunity, and a place for spiritual learning and person growth.”

Darvich was speaking with the person who invited him to screen the film in the prisons, Terry Conrad, the Director of ‘Project Clear Light’ (www.projectclearlight.org), about how the life of an inmate is somewhat like a monk who lives in a monastery.

Except in the case of inmates, their world is often surrounded by violence, which is an added incentive to work on finding inner peace.

After the screenings and Q&A sessions, Darvich said that many of the inmates mentioned that they do not experience many positive life-affirming experiences in prison, and they felt inspired and impacted by the screening, and listening to the Dalai Lama’s words about compassion and personal responsibility.

“But,” Darvich says, “it felt good to my heart and one of the most meaningful things I have done with the film to show inmates that someone cares and wants to show compassion…”

Darvich says that he would like to screen the film in other prisons, and have further open dialogues with inmates.

Khashyar Darvich is the Producer-Director of both the ‘Dalai Lama Renaissance’ documentary film (narrated by Harrison Ford), as well as the newly released ‘Dalai Lama Renaissance Vol. 2: A Revolution of Ideas,’ both of which are available on DVD here: www.DalaiLamaFilm.com

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