Dugdale's 'Gaze' finds Dalai Lama
Documentary shows spiritual leader in action
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British documaker Joshua Dugdale has just the thing.
His observational portrait, "The Unwinking Gaze: The Inside Story of the Dalai Lama's Struggle for Tibet," was completed just two weeks ago, and was already slotted as the March 29 opener of the London Intl. Documentary Festival earlier this year.
The 70-minute doc is a labor of love for the 33-year-old Brit, who spent 18 months following the Dalai Lama. Pic shows the spiritual and political leader relaxing with close confidantes as well as meeting world leaders.
"I set out to make a documentary that takes the Dalai Lama for what he really is," says Dugdale, "not the demonized wolf-in-sheep's-clothing portrayed by the Chinese or the living god often presented by his supporters."
London-based Mercury Media is handling TV sales on the pic, and managing director Tim Sparke already reports a flurry of interest. "This is a film that couldn't be more prescient," he says.
Sparke is negotiating a U.K. theatrical run through the Picturehouse circuit, with which Mercury has a deal.
And potential interest in the doc is only likely to grow. In the run-up to the Beijing Olympics, China's treatment of the Dalai Lama and handling of the Tibet issue is facing world scrutiny, with some -- including Tibet campaigner Richard Gere -- calling for a boycott of the Games.
