Compassion In Exile

Compassion in Exile is an intimate
portrait of Tenzin Gyatso, His
Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of
Tibet. Inherent in the life story of this
Nobel Peace Prize laureate is the saga
of the suffering of the Tibetan people under Chinese occupation.
For over fifty years the Dalai Lama has waged a non-violent struggle in exile to bring attention
to the plight of his people and save their unique culture and religion. He is the embodiment
of the ideal of his Buddhist heritage and practice, and his life story is an inspiring lesson in
compassion, humor and peace.
For this film, the Dalai Lama personally granted director Mickey Lemle unprecendented
access and cooperation. With candor and humor, he describes his upbringing and key
moments in his life, detailing historic events including his becoming head of state at the
age of sixteen, journeying to Beijing at nineteen to confront Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai,
and fleeing to India at twenty. Using historic and some never-before-seen footage, and with
an entrancing score by Philip Glass, his remarkable story is also told by the people closest
to him, including his older brother, his sister, and Heinrich Harrer (his childhood tutor and
the author of Seven Years in Tibet).