Two weeks ago in Sun Valley, former Buddhist monk and current professor at Columbia University Robert Thurman gave a spirited two-hour lecture on the nature of Buddhism, the history of Tibet and how these factions merged to create a highly unique country that sits on the "rooftop of the world."
The 1,200-year-old Buddhist theocracy once mandated that 80 percent of the national budget went into monastic universities. Education and cultivation of wisdom, as Thurman pointed out, were the means to enlightened living and the absence of suffering. The award-winning documentary "Cry of the Snow Lion" reveals the efforts of the Tibetans to retain their cultural identity while coping with the often brutal Chinese government since its occupation commenced a half century ago.
The movie will be shown for free at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 20, at The Community Library in Ketchum as part of the Sun Valley Center for the Arts' "Art of Tibet" exhibition. The screening is being co-sponsored by the College of Southern Idaho in Hailey.
Made over the course of nine years, the film contains historical footage, stills and footage of the director Tom Peosay's journeys throughout Tibet, India and Nepal. It features interviews with nuns, monks and Tibetans, Chinese officials and Buddhist scholars.
Audiences have been naturally enraged and enlivened to act by the film's depictions of the Tibetans' plight.
The most revealing aspect of the movie, of Thurman's lecture and of the Tibetans themselves is their resolve to continue being themselves, not give up hope and to remain committed to bringing their cause to the world's attention. It's due to the presence and persistence of the Dalai Lama and movies such as "Cry of the Snow Lion" that Tibet, past and present, is brought alive for the rest of the world. Fittingly, the snow lion is one of the most recognizable symbols of Tibetan Buddhism and symbolizes hope and cheerfulness.
Dave Kehr of The New York Times wrote in 2003, "A more concise and affecting summation of the Tibetan crisis would be hard to imagine."
The documentary is also replete with spectacular imagery, "from rarely seen rituals in remote monasteries to horse races with Khamba warriors; from brothels and slums in the holy city of Lhasa to magnificent Himalayan peaks still traveled by nomadic yak caravans," wrote one reviewer.
Martin Sheen narrates and Susan Sarandon and Ed Harris do some of the voice-overs. The rock group R.E.M. appears in a benefit concert.
The movie received Best Documentary Audience Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2003; Special Jury Award at Banff Mountain Film Festival 2003; Best Documentary, Audience Award at the Bahamas International Film Festival 2004; Special Jury Award at the Trento (Italy) Mountain Film Festival 2005; Special Jury Award at the Slovakia International Festival of Mountain Films 2005; Special Jury Award at the Graz Austria International Mountain & Adventure Filmfestival 2005 and Sarasvati Award for Humanity at the Bali International Film Festival, 2005.
In addition, it was the Official Selection at more than 25 international film festivals including Toronto, Rio de Janeiro, Cambridge, Bergen, Thessaloniki, Durban, Bangkok, Singapore and Sydney.
Tibetan man from the movie "Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion." Courtesy photo
