The 1990s were coined in Hollywood as the “Tibet Moment”. Countless celebrities attended Dharma centers across the country, Steven Seagal was recognized as the reincarnation of an ancient Lama, and three big-budget Hollywood films with Tibetan themes were released. One such film was Jean Jacques Annaud's epic Seven Years in Tibet, starring Brad Pitt. which tells the true story of the friendship between the Dalai Lama and the Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer in the last years of the country's independence. In this essay I will first provide the background of how the Dalai Lama and Tibetan culture became popular in America in the 1990s. I will then explain how the film Seven Years in Tibet reveals Heinrich's spiritual transformation and promotes awareness of China's occupation of Tibet to a wide Western audience. The Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of Tibet and is considered the reincarnation of the bodhisattva of compassion. The 14th Dalai Lama became known throughout the world after his exile from Tibet in 1959, due to China's seizure of power. When the Dalai Lama fled Tibet, he was "greeted at the Indian border by a crowd of international journalists eager to get a glimpse of the mysterious 'god-king' of the land of snow." Although reports of his escape appeared in newspapers, the issue did not gain much attention in the press and was not on the UN agenda. As both a spiritual and political leader, the Dalai Lama knew he had to take a public stand to fight for Tibet's freedom. Between 1979 and 1989 the Tibet issue turned into an international campaign. Demonstrations took place in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, which were “violently repressed by…… middle of paper……ia Worlds: Anthropology on New Terrain. Berkeley: University of California, 2002. Print."Tibet House US." Tibet House US.Gere, Richard. "Frontline: Dreams of Tibet." PBS.Solder, Steven. “Beastie Boys, Smashing Pumpkins headline Tibetan freedom concert.” Rolling Stone. Np, 8 August 1996. Lopez, Donald S. Prisoners of Shangri-La: Tibetan Buddhism and the West. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1998. 1. Print.Rawson, Philip S. Sacred Tibet: Imagination, Magic, and Myth. London: Thames & Hudson, 2012.Johnston, Becky. "Tricycle | Wake up to the world." Between image and reality. Lopez, Donald S. Prisoners of Shangri-La: Tibetan Buddhism and the West. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1998. Print.Abramson, Marc. "Mountains, Monks and Mandalas: 'Kundun' and 'Seven Years in Tibet.'"Mountains, Monks and Mandalas: 'Kundun' and 'Seven Years in Tibet.' Filmmakers, 1998.