Tenzin Gyatso

In 1981, a Buddhist monk teaching at the University of Madison, Wisconsin, made the bold request of the Dalai Lama to come and perform a rare ritual, never before done outside of India or Tibet: the Kalachakra, among the highest of the Buddhist tantric teachings. In just a few months, with a team of dedicated students, and cameras rolling, they constructed a temple and organized an event for over a thousand spiritual seekers, in a cornfield outside Madison. The incredible footage was tucked away in the Smithsonian vaults, until now. What unfolds is the story of a powerful ritual, its impact on the people that made it happen, and the meaning behind this ancient initiation.

FRONTLINE investigates China’s rule over Tibet. With footage from inside the region, the documentary examines how the Communist regime controls Tibet’s Buddhist population, and the battle over the succession of its spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

A deeply intimate and highly cinematic documentary featuring the Dalai Lama, who, at nearly ninety year of age, offers practical advice for navigating the 21st century's challenges.

This feature-length documentary embarks on an adventurous journey to questions about death and the fear associated with it. Through Jaroslav Dušek's acting guide, he explores how we can use and control people's behavior through fear of death. The film looks at various cultural approaches to the topic of death, including those that do not perceive death as a scarecrow. Modern science, like traditional wisdom, offers alternative perspectives on death that can change our understanding of life. Through the personal stories of people who have overcome their fear of death, the film shows us that our approach to death can affect the quality of our lives.

Prince Charles was always destined to wear the crown. From the royal childhood in Buckingham Palace to his naval career and life as the Prince of Wales, he's had his successes and hardships. From a young prince to now the king, he's been a constant in the British royal family, hoping one day not only to wear the crown, but to usher the British royals into a new modern era as King Charles III.

An exploration of the remarkable friendship between Archbishop Desmond Tutu and His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

The story of the Dalai Lama's journey and escape into exile in 1959.

Amala tells the story of the Dalai Lama’s younger sister Jetsun Pema, her struggles, loss and success that earned her the epithet Amala or ‘mother’. Using rare footage from her historic visit to Tibet in 1980, the film also gives insight on the state of education inside Tibet. After her sister died, she took charge of the Nursery for Tibetan Refugee Children in a small town in northern India. Under her leadership, the nursery transformed into one of the most successful Tibetan refugee schools – the Tibetan Children’s Village schools (TCV).

A Case For Kindness is a journey to understand the true nature of Kindness, making a case for why it is our best way forward as a society. The film will examine different themes of kindness while exploring various stories, cultures and conversations. We thread the themes of bullying, hate, mental health, racial injustice, food insecurity and climate change. We interview experts, leading authorities and find real life moments to build the case that inspires humanity to adopt Kindness.

Most of us think of death as something clear-cut, and that medical science has it neatly figured out. This feature documentary explodes such assumptions through its exploration of a phenomenon that blurs life and death to an unprecedented degree. In what Tibetan Buddhists call tukdam, advanced meditators die in a consciously controlled manner. Though dead according to our biomedical standards, they often stay sitting upright in meditation; remarkably, their bodies remain fresh and lifelike, without signs of decay for days, sometimes weeks after clinical death. Following ground-breaking scientific research into tukdam and taking us into intimate death stories of Tibetan meditators, the film juxtaposes scientific and Tibetan perspectives as it tries to unravel the mystery of tukdam.