Every month, The Buddhist Center hosts a community movie night in our beautiful gompa. These screenings are free and open to all! Bring your friends, family, and favorite movie snacks for a relaxing Saturday night.
Upcoming Movie Nights: 2026
March: Shangrila: Tea Road to Lhasa
March 21, 5:00 p.m.
Guided by National Geographic’s Michael Yamashita, discover a rare, intimate view into the changing world of Tibet. A world both ancient & modern, sacred & commonplace, before the legends & mysteries of the Tea Horse Road disappear into the Tibetan mist.
April: The Last Dalai Lama?
April 25, 5:00 p.m.
A portrait of the 14th Dalai Lama, featuring interviews with his family and the people he has inspired since his exile from Tibet in 1959.
May: One Mind – A Zen Pilgrimage
May 30, 5:00 p.m.
An immersive cinematic meditation on Zen monastic life in China, where a communion of nature, meditation, and labor reveals a carefully crafted way of life that reflects the very wisdom it seeks to cultivate.
June: Unmistaken Child
June 27, 5:00 p.m.
In Nepal, a venerable monk, Geshe Lama Konchog, dies and one of his disciples, a youthful monk named Tenzin Zopa, searches for his master’s reincarnation. The film follows his search to the Tsum Valley where he finds a young boy of the right age who uncannily responds to Konchog’s possessions.
July: Anicca: Embracing Change
July 25, 5:00 p.m.
Anicca is a very personal, honest and inspirational documentary about key issues regarding our struggle with change: fear, courage, trust and the big challenge of accepting reality as it is.
August: Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom
August 29, 5:00 p.m.
An aspiring singer living with his grandmother in the capital of Bhutan dreams of getting a visa to move to Australia.
September: Perfect Days
September 26, 5:00 p.m.
Hirayama cleans public toilets in Tokyo, lives his life in simplicity and daily tranquility. Some encounters also lead him to reflect on himself.
October: My Buddha is Punk
October 31, 5:00 p.m.
Kyaw Kyaw pursues the dream of seeing the punk scene take off in Myanmar, while raising awareness about persistent violations of human rights. His philosophy: A symbiosis of Buddhism and punk that rejects religious and political dogma.
Past Movie Nights: 2025
JANUARY: BLESSINGS: THE TSOKNYI NANGCHEN NUNS OF TIBET
January 25, 5:00 p.m.
A rare insight into the rich spiritual tradition upheld by the Tsoknyi nuns of Nangchen.
FEBRUARY: MONK WITH A CAMERA
February 22, 5:00 p.m.
Nicky Vreeland, son of Vogue editor Diana Vreeland, gave up photography to become a Buddhist monk. Years later, he picked up his camera again to earn money to rebuild his monastery.
MARCH: THE BUDDHA
March 29, 5:00 p.m.
The Buddha relates the life of the Indian sage who famously gained enlightenment as he sat beneath a fig tree two-and-a-half millennia ago.
APRIL: WHEEL OF TIME
April 26, 5:00 p.m.
Wheel of Time is Werner Herzog’s photographed look at the largest Buddhist ritual in Bodh Gaya, India.
MAY: WHEN THE DRAGON SWALLOWED THE SUN
May 31, 5:00 p.m.
Seven years in the making, When The Dragon Swallowed The Sun shows an unprecedented inside perspective on the Tibetan community in exile, its young generation and their struggle to free their homeland Tibet.
JUNE: SEVEN WONDERS OF THE BUDDHIST WORLD
June 28, 5:00 p.m.
In this fascinating BBC documentary, historian Bettany Hughes travels to the seven wonders of the Buddhist world and offers a unique insight into one of the most ancient belief systems still practised today.
AUGUST: THE MOUNTAIN PATH
August 30, 2025, 5:00 p.m.
The Mountain Path takes us into China’s Zhongnan Mountains in search of Buddhist hermits. The film recounts Buddhist Filmmaker Edward A. Burger’s personal journey, including how he found his teacher and entered this world of dedicated recluses. Along the trail we witness the practical everyday challenges of solitude, while the hermits share teachings on life, death, and the journey within.
SEPTEMBER 27: TALKING WITH BUDDHA
September 27, 2025, 5:00 p.m.
A heart-warming journey among Tibetan Buddhist monasteries to seek guidance from some of the great Lamas of Buddhism including His Holiness the 17th Karmapa. All this against a backdrop of Himalaya mountains the rhythmic beat of monks in prayers.
OCTOBER 25: MISSION JOY
October 25, 2025, 5:00 p.m.
Experience the incredible friendship between the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Tutu in this laugh-out-loud film. Despite difficult journeys, they made happiness a habit – finding joy in adversity and fighting for a better world.
NOVEMBER 29: THE MEDICINE BUDDHA
November 29, 2025, 5:00 p.m.
This one-of-a-kind documentary narrated by Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley is a profoundly cinematic portrait of the renowned Mongolian Buddhist leader, Khama Lama Natsagdorj. Faith and science are elegantly reconciled as we’re immersed in the Lama’s eclectic, relentless humanitarian efforts.
DECEMBER 27: INSIDE OUT
December 27, 2025, 5:00 p.m.
When her family moves across the country, tween Riley Anderson’s animated emotions get carried away – quite literally – on a fantastical journey through her mind. This Oscar winner for Best Animated Feature offers one of the clearest, yet whimsical, depictions of the mind.
Past Movie Nights: 2024
FEBRUARY: THE CUP
Saturday, February 24, 2024
5:00–7:00 p.m.
While the soccer World Cup is being played in France, two young Tibetan refugees arrive at a monastery/boarding school in exile in India.
MARCH: FLIGHT FROM DEATH
Saturday, March 30, 2024
5:00–7:00 p.m.
Hailed by viewers as a “life-transformational film” and “one of the most ambitious documentaries ever made” by Australia’s 106.7, Flight from Death uncovers fear of death as a possible root cause of much of our everyday behaviors.
APRIL: THE BIG LEBOWSKI
Saturday, April 27, 2024
5:00–7:00 p.m.
The hilariously twisted comedy-thriller blends unforgettable characters, Buddhist philosophy, a case of mistaken identity and White Russians.
MAY: THE MOUNTAIN PATH
Saturday, May 25, 2024
5:00–7:00 p.m.
Edward A. Burger lived in China for over twelve years and is one of the few foreigners to have lived and studied with the hermits of the Zhongnan Mountains. The Mountain Path recounts his personal journey, including how he found his lifelong teacher and entered into the world of these dedicated recluses.
JUNE: MIDWIVES
Saturday, June 29, 2024
5:00–7:00 p.m.
Midwives chronicles two women who run a makeshift medical clinic in western Myanmar, a region torn apart by violent ethnic divisions.
AUGUST: THE MATRIX
August 31, 5:00–7:00 p.m.
Unveil the truth in a world beyond illusion with The Matrix. Dive into a mind-bending journey that parallels Buddhist themes of enlightenment and reality.
SEPTEMBER: PRECIOUS GURU
September 28, 5:00–7:00 p.m.
The most extraordinary and least well-known story in the great religions reveals a radically relevant truth: the darker the times, the greater the opportunity for transformation.
OCTOBER: TUKDAM: BETWEEN WORLDS
October 26, 5:00–7:00 p.m.
First document about a tibetan meditation that preserves the body from days to weeks after traditionally considered death.
NOVEMBER: WHEN THE IRON BIRD FLIES
November 30, 5:00–7:00 p.m.
This film takes us on an up-close and personal journey, exploring the complex interactions between contemporary Tibetan Buddhism and western culture. It goes in-depth to portray the experiences and insights of both teachers and practitioners in the US and around the world.
DECEMBER: FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL BEINGS
December 28, 5:00–7:00 p.m.
A film about the extraordinary life of His Eminence Garchen Triptrul Rinpoche.
