Dharamsala, June 25: The third edition of the Tibet Film Festival will return to the UK this summer with a selection of new inspiring films looking at Tibetan culture and society both in and outside Tibet.
The organizers are hoping it will offer an in-depth and timely critical insight into the issue facing Tibet today.
This year’s programme comprises 10 features, 22 shorts and a number of music, photography and spoken word events across a range of diverse topics. The organisers, however, say their focus on environment and music in particular will make them the two dominating themes in the programme.
The film programme includes two International premieres, six European premieres and eight UK premieres, with some of the most recent Tibet related works by Tibetan, Indian and other international filmmakers, with a “special focus on young and emerging directors”.
“Tibet Film Festival 2010 will take place in London throughout July, the month that will see the 75th birthday of the Dalai Lama, before going on tour across the UK,” says the festival director Sonali Joshi.
A special preview of the festival will be held on July 1 at Cinéphilia West. The main festival week then runs at Riverside Studios, opening with the international premiere of ‘Road to Peace’ on 4 July, charting the Dalai Lama’s 2008 UK visit with unprecedented behind the scenes access and an extensive interview. The screening will be followed by a Q & A with director Leon Stuparich and the Dalai Lama’s UK representative, Thubten Samdup.
Other events will take place at Poetry Café (9 July), Rich Mix (11/13 July), Asia House (12 July), Free Word Centre (20 July), ICA (29 July) and Ritzy Picturehouse (30 July).
Further highlights include the UK premiere of Dirk Simon’s ‘When the Dragon Swallowed the Sun’ with its stunning original soundtrack by Damien Rice, Thom Yorke and Philip Glass. Damien Rice will be performing the film’s title track at the screening at the ICA on 29 July.
The festival will also feature multi-award winning film ‘The Sun Behind the Clouds’ by Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam which has been making waves at numerous international film festivals in recent months.
Further offshoot events include poetry readings with special guest performance by poet John Hegley and a music event presented jointly with independent record label Rocket Girl. There will also be a photography exhibition looking at issues of climate change and water on the Tibetan Plateau and beyond, also opening on July 1 and running throughout July at Cinéphilia West.
Tibet Film Festival is a non-profit initiative and this year we will be supporting Tibet House Trust and relief efforts towards the recent earthquake in Kyegudo, in the Kham region of eastern Tibet (Ch: Jiegu, Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province).
The festival is presented by ‘day for night’, a dynamic London based film/arts organisation, working to promote diversity and accessibility in visual culture through curatorial activities and foreign language transfer, making the arts and world affairs accessible to wide audiences across the UK and beyond.
For more information, visit: www.day-for-night.org
