Chinese Pressure to Keep Tibet Film at Bay
When my documentary “Dreaming of Tibet” was selected to screen at the Barcelona International Human Rights Film Festival, I was excited to be able to travel from San Francisco with the film and bring the story of Tibetans in exile to a Spanish audience. I cashed in my frequent flyer miles and took off for my film’s European premiere. No sooner had I arrived than friends in Barcelona began alerting me to the possibility of a controversy surrounding my screenings at Casa Asia. Because Spain is actively courting trade with China, cultural organizations are extremely sensitive to anything that might offend the Chinese Embassy in Madrid. In recent years, films like “Seven years in Tibet” and “Kundun” were banned at Casa Asia.
Ramon N. Prats, a Barcelona-based Tibetan scholar, had warned me in advance about these issues and urged me to contact the festival to make sure that the politics of Casa Asia would not prevent the screening of “Dreaming of Tibet.” He told me, “It wouldn’t be the first time the Chinese Embassy has prevented a Tibetan cultural event from taking place in Barcelona.” The Festival Director, Concha Pinos, had assured me that she was successful in convincing Casa Asia to screen my film. “The screening at Casa Asia is a very special event. This is the first time that a film like yours will be shown at Casa Asia and what they want is dialog and not conflict.” The first screening of “Dreaming of Tibet,” held four days earlier came off despite last minute objections from Casa Asia. Concha negotiated with the administrators up until just a few hours before show time. In the end no representative from Casa Asia was there to officially welcome and introduce me to the audience, as they did with other film directors. So, although we’d been slighted, it seemed that any real problems had been cleared up.
The day of the second screening, I arrived early at the venue, a beautiful historic building, Palau Baro de Quadras, from the “Modernisme” period. Now known as Casa Asia, it’s a pan-Asian cultural center, jointly established by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Catalonia government, and the Barcelona administration to further strengthen cooperation between the Spanish government and the Asia-pacific region. The Venerable Thubten Wangchen, a Tibetan monk who is the Director of Casa del Tibet in Barcelona, was in the lobby waiting for me. Our plan was to discuss our post screening Q&A strategy. I was happy to see about 20 other people already waiting in the lobby including several members of Barcelona’s small Tibetan community. Thubten Wangchen, immediately said, “They’re not showing the film!” A Casa Asia representative explained that the film wasn’t on her printed schedule, even though she knew that the Film Festival schedule and web site listed “Dreaming of Tibet” for 12 noon on that day. Therefore, she said they didn’t have a screening room available and in addition, she did not have a copy of the film from the festival staff. As she stood authoritatively at the reception desk, scenes from Chinese television played on two huge flat-screen monitors behind her.
Thubten Wangchen reminded me that there were other recent examples of Chinese pressure to prevent the promotion of Tibetan culture in Barcelona. The Forum Barcelona 2004 was intended to “promote study, reflection and innovative research through a process of dialogue involving all of the agents and all of the cultures that make up the contemporary world.”
Wangchen’s cultural organization Casa del Tibet was invited to participate in the Forum and decided to create a Kalachakra Mandala out of multicolored sand. ‘Kalachakra’ means ‘Wheel of Time’ and it is an important element in the teachings and practice conferred by the Buddha to his disciples. Intended as a lesson about the impermanence of life, the intricate mandala is eventually destroyed and the sands used as an offering for world peace.
However, due to pressure from the Madrid Chinese Embassy, the invitation was withdrawn. After bitter negotiations between Casa del Tibet and the Forum, the mandala was created under a tent, off-site, at a public location on Las Ramblas; a pedestrian sidewalk lined with tourist cafes, shops, and restaurants. Additionally, China threatened to withdraw its exhibition of terracotta soldiers from the Forum if the Dalai Lama attended the 2004 Parliament of the World’s Religions, which was held simultaneously with the Forum. Less than a week before the opening of the Parliament, its chairman announced that the Dalai Lama had cancelled his visit to Barcelona for health reasons. Although the Dalai Lama was indeed ill at the time, members of the local Tibetan community claim he had still planned to attend but was forced to cancel due to political pressure.
Meanwhile, back in the lobby at the Casa Asia, the restless audience members were pressuring the representative who was getting increasingly agitated and started to raise her voice. I began to call her “La Senora” because she wouldn’t tell me her name. Heated exchanges were taking place in Spanish and my translator was alternately telling me what was happening and then jumping back into the fray. One woman explained that the film was indeed scheduled according to the printed programs they had all received in the mail. La Senora telephoned various Casa Asia administrators. Throughout it all no one from the film festival staff was there to intercede on our behalf. They were at another film festival event in Madrid. After about an hour of arguing, La Senora still refused to show “Dreaming of Tibet”, because it was “out of her hands” but that she, personally had great sympathy for “los Tibetanos”.
Refusing to back down, I offered her my DVD copy of the film, with Spanish translation. She wouldn’t budge. Gesturing forcefully with her hands, she argued that the film festival catalogue didn’t indicate any screening at Casa Asia on October 24. I pointed out that Casa Asia’s website was promoting their involvement as a “sponsor of” and “screening venue for” the festival. She told me she didn’t understand English. At this point Thubten Wangchen, who speaks fluent Spanish, implored her to screen the film. La Senora pleaded with him to invite the audience to a screening at Casa del Tibet. We all agreed that wasn’t an option and stubbornly waited for her to solve the problem. By this time everyone with a cell phone was calling the press to encourage them to cover the story. At this point Ramon Prats arrived, immediately assessed the situation and launched into the fray. “See, I told you this would happen!”
At the same time I was on the phone to the festival director, Concha Pinos and co-director, Flavio Signore in Madrid. I chided them for not being at the screening to intercede for my film and the Tibetan people. They apologized and asked to speak with the Casa Asia representative. After their conversation Flavio asked me to not cause any more trouble and suggested they would arrange for a screening the following day. I respectfully but firmly insisted we wouldn’t leave until they screened the film. I asked how it was a possible that a film about the plight of Tibetan exiles could be prevented from being screened at an International Human Rights Film Festival? He made more apologies and then said he’d make some calls and get back to me.
By now, the number of people waiting to see the film had expanded threefold. People continued to crowd around the reception desk. La Senora explained to the crowd, “I’m not against the Tibetan people but I could lose my job if we screen the film”. I told her that she and Casa Asia would be better off screening the film as opposed to receiving the negative publicity associated with not doing so. She walked furiously out of the building, lit a cigarette and made a call on her mobile phone. Five minutes later she informed us that the film would be shown “en un momento” and that she had indeed located the copy of my film provided by the festival that had been missing until now. Muchas Gracias and a thousand pardons. A Tibetan leaned in close, offering, “The Chinese have a great deal of influence in Barcelona, particularly with the President of Catalonia currently visiting China to negotiate trade and manufacturing agreements. If he were in town the film definitely wouldn’t be screening.”
Ninety minutes after its scheduled start time, “Dreaming of Tibet” did finally screen to an enthusiastic audience. The film is a testimony to the resilience of the human spirit. The audience’s emotional reaction to the film lead to a high level of discourse during the question and answer that followed. Thubten Wangchen and Ramon Prats both joined me on stage. The Tibetan’s nonviolent response to the kind of injustices that make most westerners want to lash out in retaliation seemed to particularly intrigue the audience. It was a very rewarding experience.
The next day, Flavio Signore, the Festival co-director called to apologize for not having anyone from the Festival with me at Casa Asia. He said they’d learned from the experience and that they were meeting with representatives from Casa Asia to discuss the matter. He said there’d been a direct order from the Chinese Embassy in Madrid, putting pressure on Casa Asia to not screen the film.
It was a small victory for the Tibetan community in Barcelona. HopefuIly, the local press will pick up the story and there will be increased awareness of the politics of Casa Asia, the Spanish government and the Chinese Embassy. As one of the subjects of the film, Tseten Phanucharas, says, “You would think that after all these years China would realize that they’ve already got it under control and they don’t need to treat the people any worse.” For me, it was a small but dramatic representation of how far reaching the plight of the Tibetan community is. And it revitalized my devotion to get my film seen so that its message will be spread to as many people as possible.
