Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion 2003

“Tom Peosay’s documentary Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion is an impeccably made, often moving account of the captive nation of Tibet, forcibly annexed by China more than 50 years ago. Using material gathered during 10 years, Peosay’s film functions as both a breathtaking travelogue and a political provocation, offering convincing evidence of the Chinese government’s determination to wipe out Tibetan culture and identity. Although the film pays ample tribute to Tibet’s status as a Buddhist spiritual capital, Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion also deals in brute, practical politics, examining Tibet’s strategic position as a buffer between two of the world’s most populous states – China and India – and its importance to the Chinese as a power base in the Himalayas… The Chinese government, Peosay suggests, no longer needs to deal in such crude and obvious methods [as violence]. Its weapons now are economic ones… A more concise and affecting summation of the Tibetan crisis would be hard to imagine.” — Dave Kehr, NY Times