Director-cinematographer Rick Ray was granted 45 minutes to pose ten questions to the exiled Tibetan leader, and in the three months leading up to this 2001 interview in Dharamsala, he toured India pondering what he should ask. This admiring travelogue blends entrancing scenery, new age music by Peter Kater, and archival footage (including a shot of a young Dalai Lama using a 16-millimeter camera). Ray narrates, revealing that he got his image of Buddha from eating in Thai restaurants and likening his interview subject to a “reincarnation of Jesus Christ sitting in the White House.” Though the Dalai Lama insists “I am no one special” and “I am just a simple human being,” Ray clearly feels otherwise and fears China will prevent the naming of a 15th Dalai Lama in Tibet. 85 min.
