Buddhist Film Foundation

07/03/2026

July 4, 2026 marks the 50th anniversary of a notable event in American Buddhist history: the inauguration of Dai Bosatsu Zendo in Livingston Manor, NY, the largest Zen monastery in North America. the ritual gathering for a group portrait offers a who's who of leading Buddhist teachers active here then (with the notable exception of any women...), among them host Eido Shimano Roshi, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Joshu Sasaki Roshi, Richard Baker Roshi, Taizan Maezumi Roshi, Philip Kapleau Roshi, Robert Aitken Roshi, Bernie Glassman, Soen-sa-nim...

an evocative description of the event and the day appears in Rick Fields' classic HOW THE SWANS CAME TO THE LAKE as Attention: Preface to the Assembly (the book is highly recommended reading!).

photo©gaetano kazuo maida

07/01/2026

our friends at the incomparable Criterion Channel are offering a collection of the films of Khyentse Norbu for a limited time starting today. if you're not a subscriber (and why not?) you can sign up for a free trial: https://www.criterionchannel.com

Desire, Death, and Samsara: The Films of Khyentse Norbu

A Buddhist monk and lama, Bhutanese auteur Khyentse Norbu is a cinematic philosopher whose visually ravishing, spiritually profound films feel at once ancient, radically contemporary, and thrillingly alive. Travellers and Magicians reframes the road movie as a meditation on fantasy and desire, Hema Hema: Sing Me a Song While I Wait unfolds like a ta***ic masquerade suspended between rave and ritual, and Pig at the Crossing turns absurdist comedy into existential vertigo.

06/18/2026

our long term friend, country house neighbor, and founding Advisory Council member Robert Tenzin Thurman, died on Tuesday at his home in Woodstock, NY. he was 84. he was scheduled to participate in our International Buddhist Film Festival screening of THE DALAI LAMA'S GIFT this Sunday...

here's the newspaper of record's obit:

A former monk who was also Uma Thurman’s father, he made sure Buddhism retained its intellectual and spiritual rigor as it spread through the West.

06/16/2026

Bay Area: this Sunday only—a special screening of International Buddhist Film Festival Official Selection THE DALAI LAMA'S GIFT, with Tibetan Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman joining (via live Zoom) director Ed Bastian in person at the Smith Rafael Film Center, June 21, 4:30pm. the film documents the first Kalachakra initiation held outside of Asia, a 1981 event that took place in rural Wisconsin. digitized from the original brilliant 16mm footage never before seen, and augmented with recent interviews with several of the participants, leading Buddhist scholars Jan Willis, Jeffrey Hopkins, and Jose Cabezón. an intimate and historic story, a one-time event not to be missed. Tix, trailer, and info: https://rafaelfilm.cafilm.org/dalai-lamas-gift/

06/16/2026

06/09/2026

Bay Area: a special screening of International Buddhist Film Festival Official Selection THE DALAI LAMA'S GIFT, with Tibetan Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman joining (via live Zoom) director Ed Bastian in person at the Smith Rafael Film Center, June 21, 4:30pm. the film documents the first Kalachakra initiation held outside of Asia, a 1981 event that took place in rural Wisconsin. digitized from the original brilliant 16mm footage never before seen, and augmented with recent interviews with several of the participants, leading Buddhist scholars Jan Willis, Jeffrey Hopkins, and Jose Cabezón. an intimate and historic story, a one-time event not to be missed. Tix, trailer, and info: https://rafaelfilm.cafilm.org/dalai-lamas-gift/

06/04/2026

Bay Area: a special screening of International Buddhist Film Festival Official Selection THE DALAI LAMA'S GIFT, with Tibetan Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman joining (via live Zoom) director Ed Bastian in person at the Smith Rafael Film Center, June 21, 4:30pm. the film documents the first Kalachakra initiation held outside of Asia, a 1981 event that took place in rural Wisconsin. digitized from the original brilliant 16mm footage never before seen, and augmented with recent interviews with several of the participants, leading Buddhist scholars Jan Willis, Jeffrey Hopkins, and Jose Cabézon. an intimate and historic story, a one-time event not to be missed. Tix, trailer, and info: https://rafaelfilm.cafilm.org/dalai-lamas-gift/

05/28/2026

Bay Area: Save the Date! Sunday, June 21, 4:30pm, a special screening of International Buddhist Film Festival Official Selection THE DALAI LAMA'S GIFT, with Tibetan Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman joining (via live Zoom) director Ed Bastian in person at the Smith Rafael Film Center. the film documents the first Kalachakra initiation held outside of Asia, a 1981 event that took place in rural Wisconsin. digitized from the original brilliant 16mm footage never before seen, and augmented with recent interviews with several of the participants, now leading Buddhist scholars Jan Willis, Jeffrey Hopkins, and Jose Cabezon. an intimate and historic story, an event not to be missed. Tix, trailer, and info: https://rafaelfilm.cafilm.org/dalai-lamas-gift/

04/09/2026

Bay Area—Sunday, April 12, 4:30pm: please join poet Jane Hirshfield and director Haydn Reiss in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of poet Robert Bly, at a screening of the acclaimed film ROBERT BLY: A THOUSAND YEARS OF JOY.

the Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael —Tix, trailer, and info: https://rafaelfilm.cafilm.org/robert-bly/