Documentary Description
As Tibetan protesters take to the streets in the biggest and most
bloody challenge to Chinese rule in nearly 20 years, Dispatches reports
on the hidden reality of life under Chinese occupation after spending
three months undercover, deep inside the region. Dozens are feared dead
after the recent clashes and crackdown by Chinese troops, but with
reporting so rigidly controlled from the region little is known of
living conditions inside Tibet.
To make this film, Tibetan exile Tash Despa returns
to the homeland he risked his life to escape 11 years ago, to carry out
secret filming with award-winning, Bafta-nominated director Jezza
Neumann (Dispatches Special: China’s Stolen Children). Risking
imprisonment and deportation, he uncovers evidence of the “cultural
genocide” described by the Dalai Lama.
He finds the nomadic way of life being forcefully
wiped out as native Tibetans are stripped of their land and livestock
and are being resettled in concrete camps. Tibet reveals the regime of
terror which dominates daily life and makes freedom of expression
impossible. Tash meets victims of arbitrary arrests, detention, torture
and “disappearances” and uncovers evidence of enforced sterilisations
on ethnic Tibetan women.
He sees for himself the impact of the enormous military and police
presence in the region, and the hunger and hardship being endured by
many Tibetans, and hears warnings of the uprising taking place across
the provinces now.
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