Tenzin Nyidon
DHARAMSHALA, April 6: The Nepal International Film Festival (NIFF), held from April 3 to 5 in Kathmandu, has come under intense scrutiny for featuring a controversial segment titled “Xizang Panorama.” The festival, organised in collaboration with the Pan-Himalayan Cultural Research Center, is widely recognised for promoting global storytelling and fostering cross-cultural exchange. However, this year’s programming sparked strong backlash from Tibetan activists.
The controversy centers on the use of the term “Xizang,” widely regarded as a colonial term imposed by the Chinese government for Tibet. Scholars and activists argue that this shift forms part of a calculated, long-term strategy to reinforce Beijing’s sovereignty claims over the region, which has remained under Chinese occupation since the 1950s. They further describe the renaming as a deliberate effort to accelerate the Sinicization of Tibetan culture, language, and religion.
The “Xizang Panorama” program featured six films: Warrior King by Lu Qi, Snow Leopard by Pema Tseden, Home Away Home Close by Guo YiFei, Learners from the Top of the World by Jacques Malaterre, Sunrise Over the Plateau by Xiao Xiaowai, and Discovering Xizang 2026.
Members of Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) strongly condemned the festival and its collaborator, alleging that the segment functions as “a Chinese propaganda operation funded by a Chinese government university.” The group asserted that several films in the lineup fail to represent independent Tibetan voices and instead serve to whitewash China’s policies in Tibet.
SFT specifically criticised Learners from the Top of the World, claiming it portrays colonial-style boarding schools—where, according to advocacy groups, large numbers of Tibetan children have been separated from their families—as “progressive development.” Similarly, Discovering Xizang 2026 was accused of depicting environmental degradation in Tibet as sustainable or “green” development.
Footage shared by SFT from a post-screening discussion further intensified the controversy. During a Q&A session, an audience member questioned the contradiction between wildlife conservation narratives and the political situation of Tibetans, asking why “independence” is recognised as necessary for snow leopards but not for the Tibetan people. In response, a speaker at the event claimed that Tibetans have been “free for 61 years” and described the region as modern and developed, asserting that “everybody is free, except the prisoners.”
Rejecting this narrative, SFT countered that expressions of Tibetan identity, including language, religious practice, and even possession of images of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, can lead to imprisonment. The group further warned that recent legal measures, including China’s “Ethnic Unity” policies, risk criminalising even minimal expressions of Tibetan cultural identity.
Calling on the festival to uphold its stated mission, SFT urged organisers not to provide a platform for what it described as state propaganda. “NIFF exists to platform independent voices outside of state control,” the group stated. “Screening Chinese state propaganda betrays that purpose.”
This controversy echoes similar criticism faced by the Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival (KIMFF), which also featured a segment titled “Xizang Panorama” during its 21st edition. That program likewise drew backlash from artists, filmmakers, and activists for showcasing Chinese-produced films on Tibet.
Nepal is very dependent on communist China for its economy like most countries in Asia. Therefore, they cannot resist the pressure of the Chinese especially when the whole so called International Film Festival is probably bankrolled by the Chinese communist regime! The previous KP Oli Government was beholden to the Chinese regime for assisting to built the Nepali parliament building known as BIRENDRA INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION CENTRE (BICC). Oli acted like he was virtually a Chinese Governor in Nepal. He made Nepalese youth study Xi JINPIENG thought and had a photo of the Chinese dictator Xi in the Nepalese parliament! In post-G-Z revolution, there was the case of books that were apparently given by the CCP were set on fire like the Nepalese parliament itself during the vandalism that ensued the revolution. The young Nepalese were tired of the corruption and overwhelming Chinese influence in Nepal! The pro-China elements of the CPN (Communist Party of Nepal) and CPN UML (Unified Marxist-Leninist) attempted to spin the anti-China sentiment of G-Z revolution as an offshoot of a CIA inspired movement by bringing in Nepali and Tibetan mixed parentage personnel wearing jackets that had Tibetan monograms allegedly depicting allegiance to Tibet! It was found to be totally false! Some of these elements blasphemed the Dalai Lama by speaking ill of Tibet and the Dalai Lama. The Tibetans living in Nepal found themselves at the mercy of such Chinese communist inspired propaganda in order to portray the rage of the G-Z as some conspiracy cooked by anti-China forces! The truth is of course for all to see. The recent election in Nepal trounced the communists and their leader Oli by Belinda Shah who happens to be a rapper and the mayor of Kathmandu. His party Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) won by a landslide! The Chinese are very concerned about the new Governments foreign policy trajectory since Balensha had refused to visit China over the Lipulekh (claimed by Nepal) issue after India and China rode roughshod over Nepal by conducting trade without consulting Nepal. He also barred the Chinese from organising their new year in Thamel (a business hub in the middle of Kathmandu) and has kept the boundary question alive. He also asked the Chinese when the second phase of the Kathmandu ring road expansion would be completed! All this goes to show that under the Balensha Government, the Chinese will not have a free ride in Nepal anymore as it did under Oli! The Chinese regime is determined to STEAL TIBET FOR GOOD AND SO THEY WILL DO ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING TO SNUFF OUT TIBETAN RESISTANCE BOTH IN OCCUPIED TIBET AND OUTSIDE OF IT! TIBETANS MUST BE DETERMINED TO THWART THE SINISTER CHINESE ATTEMPT TO ERASE “TIBET”INCLUDING ITS NAME IN ORDER TO GAIN LEGITIMACY TO ITS ILLEGAL AND BRUTAL OCCUPATION! Not only we never ever use the offensive Chinese imperialist nomenclature, we must influence others to do the same by exposing the sinister ploy behind such name erasure. As everyone knows, the CCP has made it illegal to talk about Tiananmen massacre in China itself. So, young Chinese people learn about it only when they are studying in free western countries. This is the tactic the CCP employs to bury history in order to suit its interest and also reject accountability. The Chinese also completely occupied Indian territory of “Aksai Chin” by naming it in Chinese and occupying it without the knowledge of the Indians. It was part of Kashmir! THEY ARE SUPPRESSING THE NAME TAIWAN TO LAY CLAIM TO IT BY CALLING IT “CHINESE TAIPEI”. IN THE CASE OF TIBET, IT IS ATTEMPTING TO EXPUNGE THE WORD “TIBET” AND REPLACE IT WITH A CHINESE NAME! Their goal is to OBLITERATE TIBET AND BY GIVING IT A CHINESE NAME, THEY WANT TO ERASE TIBET FOR GOOD! They have felt very uncomfortable with the word TIBET STANDING OUT from China. So, they concocted various means to show Tibet as “part of China” by writing China-Tibet or Tibet-China in their public domain advertisement! IT LOOKED INCONGRUENT AND EMBARRASSING SINCE TIBET AND CHINA ARE TWO DIFFERENT COUNTRIES BUT ILLEGALLY OCCUPIED SINCE 1949/50 BY COMMUNIST CHINA! THE MOTTO OF THE TIBETAN GOVERNMENT IS “TRUTH SHALL PREVAIL” བདེན་པ་ཉིད་རྒྱལ་གྱུར་ཅིག་ from the Sanskrit SATYAMEVA JAYATE! We have to fight with this as our belief and also as the only weapon against the might of the evil CCP spouting lies and untruths that is peddled to deceive and mislead the international community! Why we will win in the end? Because it’s in the nature of human beings to embrace truth and despise lies!