FLIM 2011 – Festival of Tibetan Films

The festival of Tibetan films “FLIM 2011” organized by the NGO Potala took place in Prague in spring 2011. Visitors could have already seen two films of the festival on April 7, 2011 in Cinema Světozor. The main part of the festival was held in Prague’s Cinema Aero, April 13–15, 2011.
 
In 2011 the festival presented 20 Tibetan documentary and dramatic feature films, as well as films about Tibet. It presented retrospectives of filmmakers Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam who received the Václav Havel Price and Rudolf Vrba Price at the One World Film Festival 2010. During this festival you could see their impressive film about reincarnation, “The Reincarnation of Khensur Rinpoche”, their documentary about CIA involvement in Tibet entitled “The Shadow Circus”, and also their dramatic feature debut “Dreaming Lhasa”.

Part of the film presentation also consisted of Adrian Cowell’s legendary film from 1964, “Raid into Tibet”, which documents the Khampa warriors’ attack on a Chinese military convoy. Guests could also watch for example an epic documentary about the Tibetan struggle for freedom, “When the Dragon Swallowed the Sun”, German travelogues from 1920’s, or the highly controversial Canadian picture “What Remains of Us”, which looks at the Chinese occupation of Tibet through the eyes of Tibetans themselves.

After the evening screenings discussions with special guests followed. The festival program was accompanied by a presentation of the Czech edition of Mikel Dunham’s book “Buddha’s Warriors” and a photo exhibition of Czech journalist Karel Beba who visited Tibet in 1955 on China’s invitation. His photographs captured “Tibet ’mysterious’ ... and dying”. The exhibition took place in the foyer of the Cinema Aero until May 7.
 
All films were screened in English with Czech subtitles. Festival profits were donated to the activities of the NGO Potala which focuses on discovering the history, culture, religion, and ways of life of the inhabitants of the Tibetan cultural areas and providing this information to public.
The Forum 2000 Foundation was a partner of this festival