This item is part of our special edition”Buddhism and Cinema”
This article brings together an additional selection that complements the filmography in the “Resources” section. Its objective is to expand the landscape of cinema about Buddhism with films and documentaries focused on meditation, monastic life, lineages and contemporary dialogues.
Title: A Finger Pointing at the Moon
Diretor: Laurence Brahm
Year: 2002
Country: China/USA
Language: English/Mandarin
Genre: documentary
Length: 75 minutes
Tradition: Chan/Zen Buddhism
Theme: historic monasteries and contemporary teachers
Synopsis: Tour of ancient Zen monasteries in China, with interviews with teachers who keep tradition alive despite modernization.
Title: A Taste of Zen
Director: King Hu
Year: 1976
Country: Taiwan
Language: Mandarin
Genre: film; action, drama
Length: 138 minutes
Tradition: Chan/Zen Buddhism
Theme: Spiritual Discipline, Compassion, Conflict and Awakening
Synopsis: A scholar is involved in a plot of persecution; an encounter with a Buddhist temple and its practitioners reconfigures the sense of struggle, ethics and mind.
Title: Art of Faith: Buddhism (“Art of Faith: Buddhism”)
Director: John McCarthy
Year: 2010
Country: United Kingdom
Language: English
Genre: documentary
Length: 50 minutes
Tradition: Buddhism (general)
Theme: sacred art and architecture
Synopsis: Explore Buddhist temples, statues and mandalas around the world, explaining their spiritual and cultural symbolism.
Title: I Am (“I Am”)
Director: Tom Shadyac
Year: 2010
Country: USA
Language: English
Genre: documentary
Length: 78 minutes
Tradition: lay spirituality/humanism (with values related to Buddhist compassion)
Theme: interconnectivity and human nature
Synopsis: After a serious accident, Tom Shadyac interviews scientists and spiritual leaders to investigate what is wrong with the world and what we can do, emphasizing cooperation and compassion.
Title: Shaolin Ulysses: Kung Fu Monks in America
Director: Rama Rao
Year: 2003
Country: USA
Language: English
Genre: documentary
Length: 84 minutes
Tradition: Chan Buddhism (Shaolin context)
Theme: culture shock, discipline, tradition and modernity
Synopsis: Follow Shaolin monks during a tour of the United States, showing the intersection between training, spiritual practice and public image in the West.
Title: The 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva
Direcor: Geoff Jukes
Year: 2006
Country: UK/India
Language: English/Tibetan
Genre: documentary
Length: 100 minutes
Tradition: Tibetan Buddhism (Mahayana)
Theme: Ethics and Compassion
Synopsis: It records the teachings of the 14th Dalai Lama in Bodh Gaya on the poem by Ngulchu Thogme Zangpo, alternating instruction and devotion in sacred places.
Title: The Great Buddha+ (“The Great Buddha+”)
Director: Huang Hsin-yao
Year: 2017
Country: Taiwan
Language: Mandarin/Taiwanese (Hokkien)
Genre: film; dark comedy, drama
Length: 102 minutes
Tradition: Buddhism (imagery; cultural framework)
Theme: Inequality, Corruption, Morality
Synopsis: Two workers at a Buddha statue workshop stumble upon secrets from local elites, in a satire about power, precariousness and conscience.
Title: The Monk and the Fish
Director: Michael Dudok de Wit
Year: 1994
Country: France
Language: without dialogue
Genre: animation (short film)
Length: 7 minutes
Tradition: Zen Buddhism (Inspiration)
Theme: Attention, Perseverance, Desire and Transformation
Synopsis: A monk tries to catch a fish that disturbs the temple's calm; the chase becomes a visual parable about the mind and attachment.
Title: The Monk and the Gun
Director: Pawo Choyning Dorji
Year: 2023
Country: Bhutan
Language: Dzongkha
Genre: film; comedy-drama
Length: 107 minutes
Tradition: Tibetan Buddhism (Bhutanese cultural context)
Theme: modernity, politics, ethics, community
Synopsis: The arrival of democracy in a remote valley sparks changes; a lama asks his monks to get a weapon, setting off moral and cultural dilemmas.
Title: The Saltmen of Tibet
Director: Ulrike Koch
Year: 1997
Country: Switzerland
Language: Tibetan
Genre: documentary
Length: 101 minutes
Tradition: Tibetan Buddhism (cultural context)
Theme: traditional profession, community, sacred landscape
Synopsis: Portrait of a community in the Tibetan Highlands dedicated to the extraction of salt, where work and daily life are intertwined with the continuity of tradition.
Title: The Silent Holy Stones
Director: Pema Tseden
Year: 2005
Country: China
Language: Tibetan
Genre: film; drama
Length: 102 minutes
Tradition: Tibetan Buddhism
Theme: childhood, monastic life, tradition and modernity
Synopsis: A boy living in a Tibetan monastery returns home and faces the intersection between religious practices, family life and contemporary cultural changes.
Title: The Sun Behind the Clouds: Tibet's Struggle for Freedom
Directors: Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam
Year: 2009
Country: India/UK
Language: English/Tibetan
Genre: documentary
Length: 79 minutes
Tradition: Tibetan Buddhism
Theme: exile, nonviolent resistance, cultural identity
Synopsis: Portrait of the Tibetan crossroads in exile, with debates about the political and cultural future around non-violence and spiritual leadership.
Title: Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
Director: Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Year: 2010
Country: Thailand
Language: Thai
Genre: film; drama, fantasy
Length: 114 minutes
Tradition: Buddhism (karma and rebirth; cultural context)
Theme: death, memory, reincarnation
Synopsis: In his last days, a sick man relives presences and memories that open the story to other existences, between the everyday and the supernatural.
Title: Varanasi: City of Light
Director: Praveen Singh
Year: 2018
Country: India
Language: Hindi/English
Genre: documentary
Length: 92 minutes
Tradition: Buddhism/Hinduism
Theme: Death, Rebirth and Sacred Place
Synopsis: Exploration of Varanasi, where pilgrims of diverse traditions seek spiritual liberation along the Ganges River.
Title: Walk with Me
Director: Marc J. Francis and Max Pugh
Year: 2017
Country: United Kingdom
Language: English
Genre: documentary
Length: 94 minutes
Tradition: Vietnamese Buddhism (Thich Nhat Hanh)
Theme: community and daily mindfulness
Synopsis: Immersion in the life of Plum Village with Thich Nhat Hanh, focused on walking mindfully and finding peace in everyday life.
Title: Wheel of Time
Director: Werner Herzog
Year: 2003
Country: Germany
Language: English/Tibetan
Genre: documentary
Length: 81 minutes
Tradition: Tibetan Buddhism
Theme: mass rituals and devotion
Synopsis: Herzog documents Kalachakra with the Dalai Lama, capturing mandalas, pilgrimage and collective faith.
Title: When the Iron Bird Flies
Director: Victress Hitchcock
Year: 2012
Country: USA
Language: English
Genre: documentary
Length: 96 minutes
Tradition: Tibetan Buddhism
Theme: dissemination and adaptation in the West
Synopsis: Explores how Tibetan Buddhism has adapted in the U.S. Department of State after exile, with interviews and reflections on cultural changes.
Title: Wild Wild East
Director: Michael McAteer
Year: 2010
Country: USA /China
Language: English/Mandarin
Genre: documentary
Length: 85 minutes
Tradition: Chinese Buddhism
Theme: spiritual tourism and cultural encounter
Synopsis: Westerners travel to Chinese monasteries in search of enlightenment and are confronted with expectations, spiritual commerce and cultural differences.
Title: With One Voice
Director: Eric Temple
Year: 2009
Country: USA
Language: English
Genre: documentary
Length: 78 minutes
Tradition: Buddhism (among other mystical traditions)
Theme: Spiritual Unity, Compassion and Awareness
Synopsis: Teachers of diverse religions, including Buddhism, discuss a shared essence of spiritual experience.
Title: Words of My Perfect Teacher
Director: Lesley Ann Patten
Year: 2003
Country: Canada
Language: English
Genre: documentary
Length: 103 minutes
Tradition: Tibetan Buddhism
Theme: guru-disciple relationship; Buddhism in contemporary contexts
Synopsis: It follows Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche and his students, showing the transmission of teachings and tensions between tradition and modern life.
Title: Yangsi
Director: Mark Elliott
Year: 2012
Country: USA
Language: English/Tibetan
Genre: documentary
Length: 82 minutes
Tradition: Tibetan Buddhism
Theme: educating a young tulku
Synopsis: It documents the life of a boy recognized as the reincarnation of a lama and the challenges of his spiritual formation in the contemporary world.
Title: Zen and the Art of Landscaping
Director: David Kartch
Year: 2001
Country: USA
Language: English
Genre: film (short film; comedy)
Length: 17 minutes
Tradition: Zen Buddhism (Inspiration)
Theme: daily practice, inner order, mindfulness
Synopsis: A landscape designer applies Zen principles to transform a chaotic garden, as a metaphor for inner work into mundane tasks.
Title: Zen for Film
Director: Nam June Paik
Year: 1964
Country: USA
Language: without dialogue
Genre: experimental cinema/art
Duration: approx. 20 minutes
Tradition: Zen Buddhism (Inspiration)
Theme: impermanence, emptiness, materiality of cinema
Synopsis: A “blank” film that alters and deteriorates over time, inviting us to contemplate transience and illusion.
Title: Zen Noir
Director: Marc Rosenbush
Year: 2004
Country: USA
Language: English
Genre: film; mystery, comedy
Length: 71 minutes
Tradition: Zen Buddhism (context)
Theme: spiritual research, koans, perception of reality
Synopsis: A detective investigates a murder in a Zen temple; the logic of the case intersects with meditative practice and questions about reality.
Title: Zen: The Best of Alan Watts
Director: Eric Temple
Year: 1994
Country: USA
Language: English
Genre: documentary
Length: 90 minutes
Tradition: Zen Buddhism
Theme: Eastern philosophy for Western audiences
Synopsis: Compilation of talks by Alan Watts, which explains Zen concepts with humor and clarity for Western audiences.
