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NOBEL LEGACY FILM SERIES

The DALAI LAMA: SCIENTISTA FILM BY DAWN ENGLE AND IVAN SUVANJIEFF

PRESS KIT

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SYNOPSIS

Eighty five years ago, a little boy was born in a remote corner of Tibet. One day, miraculously, he was discovered to be the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama, and he was soon carried away to the capitol city of Lhasa to become the political and religious leader of the vast kingdom of Tibet. But the little boy had a secret, locked inside his heart. In "The Dalai Lama -- Scientist", the Dalai Lama tells the unknown story, in his own words, of his lifelong journey into the world of science and technology, and how the world has changed as a result. With extensive, rare, and never before seen footage, this film tells the very human story of the Dalai Lama that no one knows.

“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.”

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ABOUT- THE TALENTArthur ZajoncArthur 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. DavidsonRichard 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 GolemanDaniel 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 RicardMatthieu 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 HalifaxJoan 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 HersheyBarry 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 LangriThupten 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 WalshDiana 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.

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ABOUT- THE FILMMAKERS

DAWN ENGLE - WRITER/DIRECTORDawn 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 PRODUCERIvan 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 - CINEMATOGRAPHERDave 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 DESIGNGiacomo 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 - EDITORElizabeth “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.