The Sun Behind the Clouds (2009/2010)
"The Sun Behind the Clouds" Graham Day and Suresh Rajamani filming the Dalai Lama at the Central Temple in Dharamsala. Copyright © 2009 White Crane Films.
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In Association With:
- Roland Films
- Arch Communications GmbH
- France 5
- BOS Netherlands
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Opened: 03/31/2010 Limited
| Limited | 03/31/2010 | |
| Film Forum | 03/31/2010 - 04/13/2010 | 14 days |
| Cinema Village... | 04/16/2010 - 04/22/2010 | 7 days |
| Laemmle's Moni... | 06/25/2010 - 07/01/2010 | 7 days |
| DVD | 10/19/2010 |
Genre: India/British Documentary
Rated: Unrated
Short Synopsis
Tibet. March 2008. The biggest uprising since China took control in 1959, sweeps through the country. Meanwhile, Tibetans in exile march on their homeland, determined to support their countrymen. This is a year of dramatic possibilities for Tibet. For more than 20 years, the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual and political leader, has pursued his Middle Way Approach: giving up the goal of Tibet's independence in return for genuine autonomy. But China has consistently rejected his proposal. Now, more and more Tibetans are questioning his strategy. Can the Dalai Lama's path of peace and compromise find a solution for Tibet? Or will the voices calling for independence prevail?
Long Synopsis
Fifty years have passed since the takeover of Tibet by China. The Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual and temporal leader, has lived in exile for most of his life, trying to find a peaceful solution to the Tibet issue by giving up the goal of independence in an attempt to reach a compromise with China. But his efforts have failed to yield any positive outcome, and his people are becoming more frustrated.
March 2008. Tibet erupts as the biggest uprising since China took control in 1959, spreads across the country. The Tibetan people, for one brief moment, demonstrate to the world their unhappiness under Chinese rule and their desire for freedom. But China cracks down hard on the protests. It is also the year of the Beijing Olympics. Even as the unrest spreads in Tibet, exile Tibetans in India, frustrated by the lack of political progress, set out on a march back to their homeland, convinced that this is the only action they can take to support their countrymen.
This is a year of dramatic possibilities for Tibet. Will the marchers make it back to Tibet? Will the world stand firm in its support of Tibet even as China prepares for its biggest coming-out party? Can the Dalai Lama finally achieve a breakthrough in his efforts to negotiate a settlement with China and silence the growing voices of dissent among his own people? Can his strategy of non-violence and compromise based on his Buddhist beliefs finally find success?
In The Sun Behind the Clouds, Tibetan filmmaker, Tenzing Sonam, and his partner, Ritu Sarin, take a uniquely Tibetan perspective on the trials and tribulations of the Dalai Lama and his people as they continue their struggle for freedom in the face of determined suppression by one of the world's biggest and most powerful nations. The filmmakers had intimate access to the Dalai Lama and followed him over the course of an eventful year, which included the 2008 protests in Tibet, the international response to it, the Beijing Olympics, and the breakdown in talks between the Dalai Lama and the Chinese government.
Set against this backdrop, the film explores the interplay between the personal and the historic, spirituality and politics, and the tension between the Dalai Lama's efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the Tibet situation based on compromise and dialogue, and the impatience of a younger generation of Tibetans who are ready to take a more confrontational course.
