Wheel of Time
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Werner Herzog
Written by	Werner Herzog
Produced by	Lucki Stipetic
Starring	The Dalai Lama Takna Jigme Zangpo
Narrated by	Werner Herzog
Distributed by	Werner Herzog Filmproduktion
Release date	2003
Running time	81 minutes
Countries	Germany United Kingdom France Italy
Languages	German English

Wheel of Time is a 2003 documentary film about Tibetan Buddhism by German director Werner Herzog. The title refers to the Kalachakra sand mandala that provides a recurring image for the film.^[1]

Content

The film documents the two Kalachakra initiations of 2002, presided over by the fourteenth Dalai Lama. The first, in Bodhgaya India, was disrupted by the Dalai Lama's illness. Later that same year, the event was held again, this time without disruption, in Graz, Austria. The film's first location is the Bodhgaya, the site of the Mahabodhi Temple and the Bodhi tree. Herzog then turns to the pilgrimage at Mount Kailash, after which the film then focuses on the second gathering in Graz.

Herzog includes a personal interview with the Dalai Lama,^[2] as well as Tibetan former political prisoner Takna Jigme Zangpo, who served 37 years in a Chinese prison for his support of the International Tibet Independence Movement.