The Dalai Lama's Gift - film presented by Arizona Friends of Tibet

Join us 10/16 at the Gallagher Theater for a rare chance to view this documentary and to hear from Venerable Lama Losang Samten (our visiting sand mandala artist), who was present at the event it documents. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. The film will be followed with a conversation with Losang and two of our board members, U of A Professor Rae Dachille and U of A post-doctoral researcher Tenzin Phakdon.

In 1980, His Holiness the Dalai Lama received a humble request from a simple monk in America: to perform the Kalachakra initiation-a powerful tantric ritual never before held outside of India or Tibet-in the heart of rural Wisconsin. Captured on film then locked away in Smithsonian vaults for over 40 years, this long-lost footage resurfaces to reveal a story of devotion and transformation, and a moment when time, space, and tradition converged in the unlikeliest of places.

The U of A parking garage nearest to the Gallagher is the 2nd Street Garage (1390 E 2nd St). For the smoothest experience, download the required Passport Parking app and enter your license plate and payment method before you leave home.

The film is presented by permission of the filmmakers, in partnership with the College of Humanities 2025 Tucson Humanities Festival, and hosted by the University of Arizona: Health Humanities Hub, Department of Religious Studies and Classics, Department of East Asian Studies, and the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine. It is free and open to the public.

Category: Arts | Visual Arts | Film / Cinema