Bengaluru man's film on Buddha reaches Cannes

Bengaluru: A Bengaluru-based former Buddhist monk is all set to make his presence felt at the 69th annual Cannes Film Festival to be held from May 11 to 22. A short film, Mount of Excellence, produced by Dipankar Khanna, 59, featuring the Maitreya Buddha lineage will be screened at the festival between May 19 and 20.
It connects the Maitreya Buddha emanation to Guru Rinpoche or Lord Padmasambhava, Lord Marpa and to the present-day 12th Chamgon Kenting Tai Situpa Rinpoche, and the Palpung Sherabling Monastic seat hidden in the folds of the heady pine forests of Himachal Pradesh in India.The 67-minute film, shot in Himalayas during 2013-14, was screened at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, in February.
Directed by Shivajee Chandrabhushan, the film has been written by Shivaji and Dipankar. The cinematography is by Sayak Bhattacharya and Pento Tsering and the narrator is Kabir Bedi. The cast includes Buddist religious leaders Tai Situpa, the 14th Dalai Lama, 17th Karmapa and Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche.
Recalling his introduction to Buddhism, Dipankar, who was ordained as a novice monk, said: "My foray into Tibetan Buddhism began in 1987 when I was teaching and doing research at the Yoga Institute in Mumbai. My work there lasted until 1989 when, during a visit to Delhi, I came across a text, Bridging the Sutras and Tantras, written by the 1st Dalai Lama about 400 years ago. It was translated into English by the famed Tibetologist Glen Mullin. I first met the Dalai Lama in 1989 a couple of weeks after he had been awarded the Nobel Peace prize. My first teacher in Tibetan Buddhism was the Dalai Lama. During this period I was destined to meet teachers, including those who selflessly imparted the Buddha's teachings and made my practice of the glorious dharma wholesome and powerful."