"Tibet Film Festival 2009" in London

Dharamshala: To mark the 50th years in exile for the Tibetan community, London-based Through an Exile Lens Project and Tibet House Trust are jointly organizing the "Tibet Film Festival 2009 – Images and Reflections on Tibet" across the United Kingdom, which started on 4 March.

Joanna Lumley, actress and long-term champion of human rights causes, launched the film festival at the Houses of Parliament in London on Wednesday, 4 March.

The festival goes on tour to Oxford, Exeter, Newcastle, Southampton, Sheffield, Glasgow, Hebden Bridge, Nottingham, Edinburgh, Bristol and Manchester until May.

The festival largely focuses on new films made by independent film makers, both Tibetan and from around the world. The festival line-up comprises documentaries filmed undercover in Tibet, material to emerge from both in and outside Tibet in response to the widespread protests which swept across the Tibetan Plateau in 2008 and films that shed light on the little understood system of reincarnation in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. The programme also includes films exploring Tibet in relation to its neighbours, particularly India and Nepal.

Highlights of the festival include a number of UK films and a special compilation of rarely seen archive footage of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Lhasa, capital of Tibet, prior to March 1959 when he visited the great monasteries of Drepung, Sera and Ganden to take his examinations in Buddhist theology. The final examination took place in Lhasa during the Tibetan New Year festival of 1959, just weeks before he was forced to escape into exile to India.

The festival aims to explore the many diverse and intricate aspects of the Tibet issue, whilst equally seeking to stimulate broader discussions on human rights, conflict, freedom and cultural identity within a global context.

The organizers said: "The rich and vibrant Tibetan culture is a part of our common world heritage and has the potential to serve humanity at large. In view of the gravity of the situation in Tibet and the challenges faced by Tibetans, we welcome your thoughts, prayers and support in helping us to fulfill the humane needs of the Tibetan people and in our continued efforts to sustain and keep the Tibetan culture alive."