The DALAI LAMA: SCIENTIST A FILM BY DAWN ENGLE AND IVAN SUVANJIEFF PRESS KIT NOBEL LEGACY FILM SERIES 1
ABOUT HIS HOLINESS THE 14th DALAI LAMA In 1935, a little boy named Lhamo Thondub was born to a peasant family in Takstar, a small village in Tibet, high in the Himalayan Mountains. Lhamo had one older sister and three older brothers. Lhamo grew up as an ordinary Tibetan boy. He enjoyed ice skating in the winter and helping his mother around the farm. He would also often make believe that he was going on a trip to Lhasa, the capitol city of Tibet that was a several months journey from his home. His parents thought this was very strange because they were not sure how Lhamo even knew that Lhasa existed. The Dalia Lama, leader of one of the main branches of Tibetan Buddhism, and head of the Tibetan government, had died. Now this team was looking for his reincarnation, the young child in which the old Dalai Lama s soul had been reborn. In their dreams and visions the monks had seen a home with turquoise gutters -- just like Lhamo s house. They suspected that Lhamo was the reincarnation of the thirteenth Dalai Lama. But they had to test him first. They set several pairs of objects in front of the boy, such as eye glasses, canes, and prayer beads. One of each object had belonged to the thirteenth Dalai Lama and the other had not. When Lhamo chose the objects that belonged to the previous Dalai Lama the monks were convinced that they had found the next Dalai Lama. Lhamo was going to Lhasa after all. Lhamo and his family packed their bags and traveled to Lhasa where Lhamo began his studies with other monks. He learned about Tibetan art and culture, logic, and meditation in preparation to be the official leader of Tibet on his 21st birthday. Lhamo was taught to strive for compassion and sympathy for all living beings, without exception. In October 1950, when the Dalai Lama was just fifteen years old, 80,000 soldiers from China invaded Tibet. Thousands of Tibetan people were killed in the invasion. The people of Tibet needed a strong leader to stand up to the Chinese and to bring peace back to their country. They could not wait for the new Dalai Lama to turn 21. So at the age of fifteen, the boy who had been named Lhamo Thondup found himself the spiritual and political leader of over six million Tibetans. The Dalai Lama worked for nine long years to find a peaceful solution to the conflict with China. But the situation grew worse. On March 10, 1959, thousands of Tibetans demonstrated in Lhasa, demanding an independent Tibet. Chinese soldiers fired on the protesters and thousands of Tibetans were killed. Tibet was no longer safe for him and the Dalai Lama had to flee his country. The Dalai Lama traveled for many weeks over the Himalayas-- the highest mountains in the world into India. His parents and siblings went with him, as did many of his teachers and other Tibetan government officials. They made their way to Dharamsala, now known as Little Lhasa, where they set up the Tibetan Government in exile. The Dalai Lama started over 50 large settlements for Tibetan refugees in India and created a Tibetan school system to teach refugee children Tibetan language, history, religion, and culture. He founded several cultural institutes to preserve 2,000 years of Tibet s arts and sciences and helped reestablish more than 200 monasteries to keep Buddhist teachings alive. In 1989, on the 30th anniversary of China s invasion of Tibet, the Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to find a non-violent solution to the conflict with China. He continues to travel the globe speaking to world leaders and with ordinary people, spreading his message of peace and urging all people to live their lives with compassion for others and the earth. The Dalai Lama often says, I am just a simple Buddhist monk -- no more, no less. Living in a small cottage in Dharamsala, he rises at 4 AM each morning to meditate, attend meetings, and conduct religious teachings and ceremonies. He concludes each day with more prayers. The Dalai Lama has worked hard over the years to bring compassion and loving kindness to the world -- even to the Chinese government after all they have done to his people. For him, this is the only way to bring peace to Tibet and to the world. 2
SYNOPSIS For more than 30 years, I have spent much time with these Western Scientists. When I think about myself now, sometimes I think that I am only one-half Buddhist monk. The other half -- Scientist. Around the world, one of the most recognized leaders on our planet today is The Dalai Lama. Everyone knows him as a man of peace, a great Buddhist teacher, an advocate for humanity. The Dalai Lama: Scientist tells the story of the man you do not know; the Dalai Lama that very few people have seen. For the past thirty-five years, The Dalai Lama has been engaged in an ongoing series of dialogues with groups of Scientists. Organized in part by the Mind & Life Institute, they have covered subjects ranging from quantum physics and cosmology to compassion and destructive emotions. The Dalai Lama: Scientist immerses the viewer into these profound dialogues; explores the correlations between science and Buddhism; and shares personal life experiences from The Dalai Lama that have had a deep impact on his development as a truly one-of-a-kind world leader. As The Dalai Lama says, while Scientific findings offer a deeper understanding of such fields of knowledge as cosmology, it seems that Buddhist explanations can sometimes give Scientists a new way to look into their own field of study. 3
ABOUT- THE TALENT Arthur Zajonc Arthur Zajonc is the former President of the Mind & Life Institute. He is also emeritus professor of physics at Amherst College, where he taught from 1978 to 2012. Since 1997 he has served as scientific coordinator for the Mind and Life dialogue with H.H. the Dalai Lama whose meetings have been published as The New Physics and Cosmology: Dialogues with the Dalai Lama (Oxford 2004) and The Dalai Lama at MIT (Harvard UP, 2006). Richard J. Davidson Richard J. Davidson, Ph.D. is the William James and Vilas Research Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry, Director of the Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior, and Founder of the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds at the Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has been a member of the Mind and Life Institute s Board of Directors since 1991. Daniel Goleman Daniel Goleman is an internationally known psychologist. Goleman is a board member of the Mind & Life Institute. Goleman has organized a series of intensive conversations between the Dalai Lama and scientists, which resulted in the books Healthy Emotions, and Destructive Emotions. He is currently editing a book from the most recent dialogue on ecology, interdependence, and ethics. Matthieu Ricard Matthieu Ricard is a French writer and Buddhist monk who resides at Shechen Tennyi Dargyeling Monastery in Nepal. A board member of the Mind and Life Institute, which is devoted to meetings and collaborative research between scientists and Buddhist scholars and meditators, his contributions have appeared in Destructive Emotions (edited by Daniel Goleman) and other books of essays. Joan Halifax Joan Jiko Halifax is an American Zen Buddhist teacher, anthropologist, ecologist, civil rights activist, hospice caregiver, and the author of several books on Buddhism and spirituality. She is on the board of directors of the Mind and Life Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated in exploring the relationship of science and Buddhism. Barry Hershey Barry Hershey is an award-winning filmmaker. Hershey studied filmmaking at Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and the University of Southern California (USC), where he received his Masters in Fine Arts (MFA) in Cinema. Thupten Jinpa Langri Thupten Jinpa Langri is a leading Tibetan Scholar, and he received his Ph.D from the Institute for Tibetan Classics. He has been the principal English translator to the Dalai Lama since 1985. He is also the Chairman of the advisory board of the Mind and Life Institute, dedicated to fostering creative dialogue between the Buddhist tradition and Western science. Diana Chapman Walsh Diana Chapman Walsh was President of Wellesley College from 1993 to 2007. Walsh has published on topics related to the organization and financing of health care services, the conservation of health, the prevention and treatment of substance abuse, the health effects of work and on a number of issues in higher education. She currently serves on the Mind and Life Institute advisory board. 4
ABOUT- THE FILMMAKERS DAWN ENGLE - WRITER/DIRECTOR Dawn Gifford Engle is an activist and filmmaker, and she has been nominated sixteen times for the Nobel Peace Prize. She directed the award-winning documentary films, PEACEJAM, Mayan Renaissance, Children of the Light, Rivers of Hope, and Daughter of the Maya. She also co-authored the book, PEACEJAM: A Billion Simple Acts of Peace, which was published by Penguin in 2008. She has a background in public service, working 12 years for the U.S. Congress, and she was the youngest woman ever appointed to serve as Chief of Staff for a U.S. Senator. In 1994, Dawn Gifford Engle and Ivan Suvanjieff created the PeaceJam Foundation, which has been recognized nationally as an award-winning service learning program, and internationally for excellence in peace education. IVAN SUVANJIEFF - EXECUTIVE PRODUCER Ivan Suvanjieff is an artist and an activist. He was a Detroit punk rock musician (lead singer of the Ramrods) and an editor at CREEM magazine (his work is featured in two recently published books: The Best of CREEM and Iggy Pop and the Stooges: The Authorized Biography ). He is well known for his abstract paintings and his literary magazine, The New Censorship, with contributing editors Charles Bukowski, Anselm Hollo, Anne Waldman and Andrei Codrescu. He co-created the PeaceJam program, and he has been nominated 16 times for the Nobel Peace Prize. He was the Executive Producer and Director of Photography for the award winning films PEACEJAM, Mayan Renaissance, Children of the Light, Rivers of Hope, and Daughter of the Maya. He and his wife Dawn were married by Archbishop Desmond Tutu at Saint Georges Cathedral in Cape Town, South Africa in March 2000. DAVE WRUCK - CINEMATOGRAPHER Dave Wruck is an Emmy Award winning editor, with nearly two decades of experience working in both television and documentary film. He has received five Emmy Awards for documentary films he has edited. He has also won many awards at leading film festivals, including Best Documentary Film, Audience Favorite, Jury Award, and Directors Choice. He is a constant traveler as he takes on documentary projects all over the world. Dave Wruck has worked closely with the PeaceJam Foundation film department for ten years. GIACOMO BOUNAFINA - SOUND DESIGN Giacomo Buonafina is an award-winning actor, sound engineer, and activist from Guatemala. As an actor he is known for his work with respected directors Carlos García Agraz, Rafael Rosal, and the great Guatemalan director Luiz Tuchán. His indie label, Primera Generación Records, recorded over 100 albums of local and Central American music and worked with artists to record albums which became fundamental in the post war artistic movement in Central America. ZABE HOLLOWAY - EDITOR Elizabeth Zabe Holloway has been working professionally in the film production field since 2004. She s an award winning editor, and first began working with the PeaceJam Foundation in 2010 as an Editor for the documentary film 2012: The True Mayan Prophecy and continued on as Editor and Production Manager for the films Mayan Renaissance, Children of the Light, Rivers of Hope, and Daughter of the Maya,. She is a graduate of the Art Institute of Colorado. 5
BUDGET Story development & Script Director Director of photography producers cast total above the line Grip/set operations camera production sound transportation location & office expense production film & lab stock footage total production editing staff music post sound post film & lab titles, optical, & digital fx other deliverables other post costs total post-production publicity & marketing legal & accounting insurance general expense total other total above-the-line total below-the-line grand total raised to date remaining funds to raise $66,000 $60,000 $60,000 $70,000 $40,000 $296,000 $8,000 $22,400 $31,400 $92,342 $10,898 $4,000 $47,200 $216,240 $111,000 $24,000 $35,600 $62,000 $25,500 $30,000 $33,000 $321,100 $126,000 $16,000 $6,000 $18,660 $166,660 $296,000 $704,000 $1,000,000 $850,000 $150,000 6