“Who cares what I think China should do?”: Richard Gere’s Dalai Lama Movie Will Face the Same Issue That Brad Pitt’s Tibet Film Did 28 Years Ago

Richard Gere’s upcoming documentary, Wisdom of Happiness, set to release on October 16, is already making headlines, and not just because it’s about the 14th Dalai Lama. Turns out, the film produced by the Hollywood veteran could stir the same kind of controversy that shrouded Brad Pitt’s Seven Years in Tibet nearly three decades ago.

China has had a never-ending political conflict with Tibet, and a tense relationship with the Dalai Lama, mainly over who gets to decide his reincarnation: the Chinese government or the Tibetan Buddhist leaders. And now, since Gere is a well-known supporter of Tibet and an acquaintance of the Dalai Lama, the documentary might not sit well with Beijing.