Media coverage: Tibetan Film Festival 2006
Chinese film a surprise pick at Tibetan festival
By Baldev S. Chauhan (IANS)
DHARAMSHALA, India, 2 May 2006 — The saying "art knows no barriers" has come true at a Tibetan film festival here that to the surprise of many is screening a Chinese film.
The weeklong second Tibetan film festival in this resort town of Himachal Pradesh began Monday evening. Dharamshala is the seat of the Tibetan government-in-exile.
"In all 16 films are being shown, including eight by Tibetans, and the rest from India, China, Switzerland, the US and even Chile," Lobsang Wangyal, chief organiser of the festival, told IANS.
Asked about the lone Chinese film "House of Flying Daggers", Wangyal said: "Directed by Zhang Yimou, the film tells a passionate and painful story about love which tears apart three people, despite their sacrificing all for it."
The film is set in 859 A.D. at the peak of the Tang dynasty. Two years ago "House of Flying Daggers" was screened at the prestigious Cannes film festival.
"I have picked a Chinese film at a Tibetan film festival purely for the breathtaking special effects and not for any political reason," said Wangyal.
But observers see this development as an effect of the thawing of relations between the Chinese administration and Tibetan refugees in the last couple of years. In the past, Tibetan films have been refused entry after the Chinese objected to their entry at several international film festivals.
The other films at the festival include "Water" by Deepa Mehta, "Dreaming Lhasa", a feature film by Ritu Sarin and Tenzin Sonam, and "Voices in Exile" - a documentary by Tenzin Wangden Andrugtsang.
There is also the film "Angry Monk" by Luc Schaedler and "On the Road With The Red God", directed by Kesang Tsetan, a Tibetan living in Nepal.
The Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has recently said he wishes to visit important Buddhist pilgrim centres in China. Also, official level talks between the two sides have been going on to resolve the disputed Tibetan issue.
The Dalai Lama and his followers fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against the Communist Chinese government. The flow of Tibetan refugees continues every year since then and over 100,000 Tibetans live in Himachal Pradesh and other parts of India.