Photo by Danny Fisher.

Though comprehensiveness was not one of my stated goals when I offered the “Five Great Films about Buddhism” post a couple of days ago, a reader nonetheless commented that I had “missed a tremendous number” of titles.  This reminded me that I had attempted a comprehensive list last year at my blog.  Though I certainly cannot claim that this actually is a comprehensive list of films explicitly about Buddhism, it’s the best I can do with the resources for research at my disposal.  Reader additions/suggestions are most welcome.

And just so we’re clear:  What follows is a list is of all the significant narrative films and documentaries I can find that are specifically about Buddhism. This does not include films like The Matrix or Groundhog Day, which could be considered Buddish, but are not explicitly about Buddhism.

[One note: Like the IMDb, I have tended to use titles in the language of the country in which it was originally released. Thus, The Cup is listed as Phörpa; Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring as Bom Yeoreum Gaeul Gyeoul Geurigo Bom; Enlightenment Guaranteed as Erleuchtung Garantiert; and so on.]

À La Recherche de Kundun avec Martin Scorsese

Aje Aje Bara Aje

Amongst White Clouds: Buddhist Hermit Masters of China’s Zhongnan Mountains

Angulimala

Angry Monk: Reflections on Tibet

Asoka

Bom Yeoreum Gaeul Gyeoul Geurigo Bom

Buddha’s Lost Children

Buddha Wild: The Monk in a Hut

Calling of the Dragon

Compassion and Wisdom: A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life

Compassion In Exile: The Story of the 14th Dalai Lama

Crazy Wisdom: The Life & Times of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche

Dalai Lama Renaissance

Dalmaya Nolja

Dao Ma Zei

Destroyer of Illusion: The Secret World of a Tibetan Lama

The Dhamma Brothers

Dharma River

Dharmaga Tongjoguro Kan Kkadalgun

Doing Time, Doing Vipassana

Dong Seung

Dreaming Lhasa

Erleuchtung Garantiert

Fearless Mountain

Himalaya – L’enfance D’un Chef

How to Cook Your Life

Hwaomkyung

Ice and Water

The Knowledge of Healing

Kundun

The Lion’s Roar

Little Buddha

Marga

Mandala

Marathon Monks of Mount Hiei

Meditate and Destroy

Milarepa

Mountains and Rivers

Now I Know You: A Tribute to Taizan Maezumi Roshi

Oseam

Ososhiki

Peace Is Every Step: Meditation In Action: The Life and Work of Thich Nhat Hanh

Phörpa

Prajna Earth

Sacred Wildness: The Teachings of Rocks and Water

Samsara (2001)

Samsara (2009)

Sansani Buseojin Ileumiyeo

Satya: A Prayer for the Enemy

Seven Years in Tibet

Siddhartha

Shinran Shonin – The Light of the World

10 Questions for the Dalai Lama

Tibet: A Buddhist Trilogy

Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion

The Tibetan Book of the Dead (A Way of Life / The Great Liberation)

Travellers and Magicians

Vajra Sky Over Tibet

Watching the Rock Grow: History of Zen Mountain Monastery

Water Buddhas

The Water Way

Wheel of Time

Windhorse

Words of My Perfect Teacher

Xia Nu

Zen Buddhism: In Search of Self

A Zen Life-D.T. Suzuki

The Zen Mind

Zen Noir