- Actor producing documentary about the Dalai Lama
Hollywood star Richard Gere (74) is a spiritual person. Since the early 1990s, the actor raised as a Protestant has identified as a Buddhist and has been regularly seen alongside Tenzin Gyatso (89), the current incarnation of the Dalai Lama.
Advocacy for Human Rights in Tibet
To be close to the head of Tibetan Buddhism, he even lived for a time in Dharamsala, the exile residence of the Dalai Lama and the seat of the Tibetan exile government in northern India. Since 1995, Gere has been the chairman of the human rights organization "International Campaign for Tibet", which advocates for a democratic self-determination right and the protection of human rights in Chinese-occupied Tibet.
"Second Most Famous Buddhist in the World"
However, the actor described being dubbed the "second most famous Buddhist in the world" due to his prominent activism as "ridiculous and embarrassing" in an interview with the "Süddeutsche Zeitung".
Richard Gere will now also support the Dalai Lama's mission on the silver screen. Together with producer and director Oren Moverman (58), he will serve as an executive producer for the Swiss documentary "Wisdom of Happiness". As stated in the press release, the film will "create a powerful cinematic exploration of the inner thoughts of the Dalai Lama".
"A Fine Film That Can Have a Great Impact on the Future"
The documentary is set to be released worldwide in theaters in fall/winter 2024 and aims to be "a philosophical testament of the Dalai Lama on the big screen". Co-producer Richard Gere is quoted in the statement regarding the potential impact of the doc as follows: "This is a fine film that can have a great impact on the future." Fellow producer Moverman added: "As a filmmaker, I am deeply grateful for the invitation to participate in this truly unique film that so beautifully translates the message of kindness into the visual language of cinema."
Richard Gere's close association with the Dalai Lama led him to reside in Dharamsala, where the Dalai Lama resides as the head of Tibetan Buddhism and the Tibetan exile government. In an interview with the "Süddeutsche Zeitung," Gere expressed his discomfort with being labeled the "second most famous Buddhist in the world" due to his activism.
