This is our 20th year, and we’re celebrating with a presentation of Buddhist classics from that very special Class of ’99, along with a tribute to screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin.
First up, in Los Angeles on Saturday, June 1, 2019, a special screening of Enlightenment Guaranteed presented with BuddhaFest LA. This heartfelt comedy was filmed on location in Germany and Japan (particularly at Sojiji Monastery in Monzen). The screening follows a conversation between Roshi Joan Halifax and Roshi Pat Enkyo O’Hara at the Writers Guild Theater.
BuddhaFest LA tickets and information.
The Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael, California, is also celebrating its 20th anniversary, and Buddhist Film Foundation joins the California Film Institute to co-present the screenings there.
Smith Rafael Film Center
1118 Fourth Street
San Rafael, CA 94901
Jacob’s Ladder
Directed by Adrian Lyne
USA / 1990 / English / 113 min plus Q&A / Drama
Thursday, June 6, 7:00 pm
In Person: Screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin
Introduced by Gaetano Kazuo Maida, executive director of Buddhist Film Foundation
![[close up of young man with brown bangs and large round wire-framed glasses looks depressed]](https://buddhistfilmfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/jacobs-ladder-festival.jpg)
This film, originally marketed as a thriller, stars Tim Robbins as a Vietnam War veteran. Inspired and informed by the Tibetan Book of the Dead, it screened at the very first International Buddhist Film Festival, at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Enlightenment Guaranteed
Directed by Doris Dörrie
Germany / 1999 / German with English subtitles / 105 min / Comedy
Sunday, June 9, 4:15 pm — Class of ’99
In Person: Dairyu Michael Wenger, head of Dragon’s Leap Meditation Center in San Francisco
![[two men in black kneel on tatami mats facing each other with clasped hands with a shoji screened background]](https://buddhistfilmfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/enlightenment-guaranteed-festival.jpg)
This heartfelt comedy was filmed on location in Germany and Japan (particularly at Sojiji Monastery in Monzen).
Two brothers find themselves in a Japanese monastery, and that’s not the biggest surprise of their adventure.
Ghost
Directed by Jerry Zucker
USA / 1990 / English / 127 min plus Q&A / Romantic Drama
Thursday, June 13, 7:00 pm
In Person: Screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin
Introduced by Richard Peterson, program director of the Smith Rafael Film Center
![[young bare-chested man rests chin on shoulder of young woman with short dark hair and sleeveless white shirt as he lovingly embraces her]](https://buddhistfilmfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/ghost-festival.jpg)
Rubin was awarded the Academy Award® for Best Original Screenplay for this enormously popular (over $500mm worldwide) film starring Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze, and featuring Whoopi Goldberg, who won an Oscar® for Best Supporting Actress for her role. In 2010, Eurythmics producer/guitarist Dave Stewart collaborated with Rubin on a stage musical version of the film, which premiered in the UK in 2011, and productions have toured over a dozen countries to date.
The Cup
Directed by Khyentse Norbu
Bhutan / 1999 / Tibetan and Hindi with English subtitles / 94 min / Comedy
Sunday, June 16, 4:15 pm — Class of ’99
In Person: Steven D. Goodman, CIIS professor and board member of Khyentse Foundation, one of the charitable organizations founded by Norbu (a Tibetan Buddhist teacher also known as Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche)
![[back of figure in maroon robe and parasol stands alongside a child in maroon robes holding a white pinwheel as they stare out at a landscape of dry grass and blue mountains]](https://buddhistfilmfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/the-cup-festival.jpg)
Filmed on location at a Tibetan Buddhist monastery, this wonderful comedy pits young monks against their masters in a soccer-loving effort to watch the World Cup, and was a surprise arthouse hit. This was director Norbu’s breakthrough debut feature after participating in Bernardo Bertolucci’s Little Buddha; his fifth film, Looking for a Lady with Fangs and a Moustache, is set for release later this year.
Shower
Directed by Yang Zhang
China / 1999 / Mandarin with English subtitles / 95 min / Comedy
Sunday, June 23, 4:15 pm — Class of ’99
In Person: Rev. Heng Sure, director of the Berkeley Buddhist Monastery
![[smiling elderly asian man soaking in white tiled hot tub pours himself a drink]](https://buddhistfilmfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/shower-festival.jpg)
A sly comedy, this film, shot on location in China, reveals a Vajrayana Buddhist spirit surviving and nourishing a Beijing bath house community—it’s all about compassion.
Himalaya
Directed by Eric Valli
Nepal / 1999 / Tibetan with English subtitles / 108 min / Drama
Sunday, June 30, 4:15 pm — Class of ’99
In Person: Tsering Bawa Dorjee, musician and featured cast member
![[close up of asian woman with long black hair stares pensively to her left]](https://buddhistfilmfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/himalaya2-festival.jpg)
Originally titled Caravan, this amazing work was filmed on location in extremely difficult conditions in Dolpo, Nepal, and tells the story of a Tibetan Buddhist trading caravan struggling through weather and terrain to supply its village and sustain its traditions. In its initial release, this was one of the most successful films ever at the Smith Rafael Film Center.
