Summary of Current Film Projects

1) Matrix of Compassion

Featuring His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, H.H. The 17th Karmapa, Buddhist nun Tenzin Palmo, and interviews with other influential spiritual thinkers of our time, the Matrix of Compassion takes us on an inner journey of personal transformation, as well as an epic cinematic journey through India and the West to understand our purpose in life and what brings each one of us true, deep and lasting happiness. Edited from among 500 of hours of filmed video, this is an epic journey leads us to the intimate lives of a family inside of an Indian slum, to exploring the issue of forgiveness by a Tibetan monk who was tortured by the Chinese Government.

 

2) Forgiving Buddha – Prison Spiritual Transformation Film

Can men who have killed become Buddha? Forgiving Buddha is “an illuminating journey into the fire of the self to free the mind.” It is the story of 5 men, most of whom have been convicted of murder, and how they try to redeem and transform themselves after 25 years in prison through adopting a spiritual practice of meditation and yoga, as well as self honesty and reflection of their crimes. Wakan Films was granted near full access filming inside an Oregon prison for a period of two years, and also plan on finding and interviewing the victims and victims families of these crimes. The film will explore the capacity for inner change, forgiveness and compassion.

 

3) Loving Charlotte

Loving Charlotte is an extraordinary feature documentary film that was filmed over a period of 70 years, incorporating hours of rare color home movie footage and video shot from 1939 through 2012, as well as thousands of photographs, color slides and powerful letters. It chronicles the life of “Charlotte,” and American woman born in Los Angeles during the Second World War, and her triumphant overcoming of unimaginable abuse through kindness, love and forgiveness.

 

4) Peace Pilgrim: Walking 25,000 miles for peace

A inspiring and life-affirming documentary film about an American woman named “Peace Pilgrim” who, beginning in 1953, walked over 25,000 miles across America for peace, walking for both inner and outer peace, and captivating and speaking to thousands of audience members during every step of her journey. Her message was “This is the way of peace: Overcome evil with good, falsehood with truth, and hatred with love.” The film will feature historic and powerful interviews with Peace Pilgrim, poet Maya Angelou, the Dalai Lama and others, as well as old newsreel footage from all of the decades when she walked.

 

5) The Silence of Happiness

Filming has begun on this new inspiring documentary film by Wakan Films, set in the beautiful country of Sri Lanka, centered around the lives of deaf children who are rescued from their lives of isolation and despair in rural Sri Lanka where education for the hearing impaired is nonexistent. These children are brought to a school for the deaf where they are taught sign language so they can begin to communicate their thoughts and feelings with the world that have been hidden and silent for years. Even though they cannot hear the music, they are taught beautiful intricate traditional Sri Lankan dance, which helps them express themselves in ways that they previously could not. Through the healing power of water and insight meditation, a Sri Lankan therapist living in Scotland travels back to her native Sri Lanka to help these children further heal their traumatic experiences of surviving the devastating Tsumani, the Sri Lankan Civil War, homelessness and neglect and abuse.

6) Dalai Lama Awakening (narrated by Harrison Ford)

This is a completely new and authentic pure Director’s cut of the original award-winning ‘Dalai Lama Renaissance’ theatrical documentary film, which won 12 awards, was the official selection of over 40 international film festivals, and screened in cinemas around the world. “A Poetic ReVision: Dalai Lama Renaissance” is the exact unabridged clear version of the film that Producer-Director Khashyar Darvich wanted to share with the world before the theatrical version was re-edited and shortened to 82 minutes to fulfill the needs of distributors. But Director Darvich always felt that it was important to share the nearly 2 hour original pure version of the film with the world, as a way to communicate directly to audiences’ hearts, spirits and minds, the transform that occurred during this special and historic meeting with the Dalai Lama. “A Poetic ReVision” It is a uniquely different cinematic experience that will take you more deeply into the heart of the transformational journey with the Dalai Lama. This differs from the first theatrical release in that there are 25 additional minutes of scenes and story, since the edit is completely different watching it brings a different cinematic experience, the soundtrack is 100% newly created, and this pure Director’s vision shares with you a more emotional and complete experience of the journey to the Himalayas to meet the Dalai Lama. http://wakan.com/current-film-projects/Please stay-tuned for when you are able to see this film, including the World Premiere of this important and completely re-visioned re-telling.

 

7) Compassion in Action (featuring the Dalai Lama)

The never-before released additional dialogue sessions with the Dalai Lama and the innovative thinkers featured in the ‘Dalai Lama Renaissance’ documentary film. Experience more profound wisdom from the Dalai Lama and the innovative Western thinkers who include: Jean Houston, Fred Alan Wolf, Amit Goswami, Michael Beckwith, Thom Hartmann, John Mack, Elisabet Sahtouris, and others), that led to the transformational experience captured in ‘Dalai Lama Renaissance.’