Screened as part of NZIFF 2004

Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion 2003

Directed by Tom Peosay

USA In English and Tibetan with English subtitles
104 minutes 35mm

Director, Photography

Screenplay

Sue Peosay
,
Victoria Mudd

Editor

Kathryn Himoff

Music

Jeff Beal
,
Nawang Khechog

Narrator

Martin Sheen

Festivals

Toronto 2003; Sydney 2004

Elsewhere

“Tom Peosay’s documentary Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion is an impeccably made, often moving account of the captive nation of Tibet, forcibly annexed by China more than 50 years ago. Using material gathered during 10 years, Peosay’s film functions as both a breathtaking travelogue and a political provocation, offering convincing evidence of the Chinese government’s determination to wipe out Tibetan culture and identity. Although the film pays ample tribute to Tibet’s status as a Buddhist spiritual capital, Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion also deals in brute, practical politics, examining Tibet’s strategic position as a buffer between two of the world’s most populous states – China and India – and its importance to the Chinese as a power base in the Himalayas… The Chinese government, Peosay suggests, no longer needs to deal in such crude and obvious methods [as violence]. Its weapons now are economic ones… A more concise and affecting summation of the Tibetan crisis would be hard to imagine.” — Dave Kehr, NY Times