When the Iron Bird Flies

2012, USA, Victress Hitchcock, 96 min.

A Chariot Documentary Film produced by Victress Hitchcock & Amber Bemak

'When the iron bird flies and horses run on wheels, the Tibetan people will be scattered like ants across the face of the earth.' - Guru Padmasambhava of Tibet, 8th century

In 1959, the Chinese invasion of Tibet threw open the doors to the mysterious realm of Tibetan Buddhism. Suddenly, this ancient tradition was thrust out of it's cloistered society into the mainstream of western culture. Fifty years later, Tibetan Buddhist teachers trained in practices nurtured in monastaries and caves in the Himalayas are jetting around the world, presenting the words of the Buddha to rooms full of international lay practitioners who are hungry for a true spiritual path.

When the Iron Bird Flies traces the astounding path of one of the world’s great spiritual traditions from the caves of Tibet to the mainstream of western culture and asks: In these increasingly chaotic modern times, can these age old teachings help us find genuine happiness and create a saner, more compassionate 21st century world?