The Beautiful Truth presents the West Coast Premiere screening of MEETING THE BUDDHA at the Awareness Film Festival Sunday, October 26, 2025 at 10:00am at the Laemmle Monica Film Center (1332 2nd Street), Santa Monica.
The festival brings awareness to open eyes to some of our world’s pressing issues: Ecological, Political, Health/Well Being and the Spirit. The Awareness Film Festival was formed by Heal One World.
Created by an international team from the UK, Germany, Hungary, and Denmark, in collaboration with venerable Tibetan Lamas, the documentary is produced by The Beautiful Truth, a film and storytelling studio creating documentaries that explore purpose, impact and humanity.
MEETING THE BUDDHA follows the journeys of the 16th Karmapa and Danish Lama Ole Nydahl, weaving a story of friendship, courage, and a vision that transformed countless lives. Blending rare archival footage, original animation, intimate interviews, and contemporary reflections, Meeting the Buddha explores how timeless wisdom entered modern life through the bond between teacher and student.
Director Marta György-Kessler, who first encountered Buddhism through Ole and Hannah Nydahl in 1990, previously directed the award-winning Hannah – Buddhism’s Untold Journey, featured on Netflix. With Meeting the Buddha, she continues to chronicle the transmission of Tibetan Buddhism, tracing the life and legacy of the 16th Karmapa and the students who carried his vision across the world.
MEETING THE BUDDHA continues its international success, winning Best Director (Feature Film) at the Cine Paris Film Festival and Best Director (Documentary) at the Berlin Indie Film Festival, along with multiple Indie Director honors. Most recently, the film triumphed at the 2025 Top Indie Film Awards (Summer Edition) in Tokyo, receiving Best Editing, Best Sound, and Best Message, plus nominations for Best Documentary Feature and Best Music. Since June 2025, the film has earned 16 international awards, including four Awards of Excellence (IndieFEST Film Awards: Special Mention and History/Biographical, The Impact DOCS Awards, and Docs Without Borders). Additional accolades include Best Human-Interest Film (WPFA Awards), Best Indie Director (LA Independent Women Film Awards), Best Documentary (Chicago Women Film Festival and Royal Starr Film Festival), and an Honorable Mention at the Los Angeles Cinema Festival of Hollywood.
Meeting the Buddha presents the life and legacy of the 16th Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje—the head of the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. The film captures the remarkable presence of this “Living Buddha”, tracing his early years in Tibet, his preservation of the lineage in exile in India, and his vision to spread Buddhism to the modern world.
In this context, we meet Ole Nydahl, a wild young hippy from Denmark who, as a small child, had declared his wish to become the “Danish champion of mind.” His life is radically transformed by a chance encounter with the Karmapa in 1969. He and his wife, Hannah, become key figures in bringing Buddhism to the West, founding hundreds of meditation centers—from Mexico City to Vladivostok—and carrying forward their teacher’s vision with unshakable dedication.
Amid political upheaval in Tibet and cultural transformation in the West, Meeting the Buddha tells the richly historical, yet deeply personal story of how timeless wisdom found its way into contemporary life. Through interviews, animation, and never-before-seen footage, this documentary honors the profound bond between teacher and student that sustains the living transmission of the Karma Kagyu lineage.