"The Sun Behind The Clouds" makes Arizona premiere July 1st, 2010

Film Festival hosts award-winning documentary about Tibet's struggle for freedom; Join the filmmakers who will host the film and Q&A discussion

The Sedona International Film Festival is proud to present the exclusive Arizona premiere of the award-winning documentary “The Sun Behind the Clouds” on Thursday, July 1. There will be two screenings of the film at 4:00 and 7:00 p.m. at the Sedona Creative Life Center. The film is being presented by the Sedona International Film Festival in this one-night-only special engagement.

The film has been recognized around the world as one of the most dynamic and important film exploring Tibet’s struggle for freedom. Critics and audiences are applauding the film’s balance and two-sided view of the complex political and social dynamics within and outside Tibet.

Sheri Linden with The Hollywood Reporter calls the film “essential viewing for anyone who cares about the fate of the mountain region and the legacy of the Dalai Lama.”

Filmmakers Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam will be in Sedona to host the screenings and a Q&A discussion after both shows.

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.

Filmmakers Ritu and Tenzing will be in Sedona for the screenings and Q&A discussions as they tour across the Southwest bringing this important film to audiences in the United States. They have been working together since 1983. For the past 20 years, the subject of Tibet, in all its many aspects has been their primary focus. Through their work they have attempted to document, question, and reflect on, the issues of exile, cultural identity and political aspiration that confront the Tibetan diaspora. At the same time, they have consciously made an effort to dispel some of the more romanticized and exoticised representations of Tibet and its culture that have found currency in the Western imagination, by taking a more intimate, sensitive and realistic perspective. They currently work out of Dharamsala, New Delhi and London.

The title sponsor for the event is the Goldenstein Gallery. The lodging host is Sedona Rouge Hotel & Spa. Additional support is provided by the Arizona Commission on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the City of Sedona, and the Sedona Community Foundation.

“The Sun Behind the Clouds” will be shown at the Sedona Creative Life Center on Thursday, July 1 at 4:00 and 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $12, or $9 for Film Sedona members, and will be available starting at 3:00 p.m. that day at the Sedona Creative Life Center, located at 333 Schnebly Hill Road. Cash or checks only. Film Sedona members can purchase tickets in advance at the Sedona International Film Festival office, 1785 W. Hwy. 89A, Suite 2B, or by calling 282-1177. For more information, visit: www.SedonaFilmFestival.com.