Since the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) invaded Tibet in the 1950s, the nature and language of Tibetan resistance against the Chinese occupation have undergone significant changes over the decades, from violent armed struggle to a non-violent mode of political protest and activism. I discuss the politics of visual narration and documentation of the Tibetan struggle in Tibetan exile cinema by focusing on four selected films/documentaries - Shadow Circus: The CIA in Tibet (1998), Dreaming Lhasa (2005), Rituals of Resistance (2018), and Crouching Snowlion Rising Dragon (2022). These films document diverse narratives of Tibetan resistance, ranging from the marginalised history of the Chushi Gangdruk, a Tibetan armed guerrilla force active during 1956-1974, to self-immolation protests. Significantly, the four chosen films contest the dominant framing and understanding of the Tibetan struggle as only a peaceful movement for self-determination by foregrounding politically isolated histories and experiences. I argue and demonstrate that Tibetan exile cinema as a visual archive becomes an alternative historical record with political potential to influence the Tibetan struggle. In this study, along with textual analysis of films, I use insights from my fieldwork in Dharamsala (Himachal) and Majnu-ka-Tilla (Delhi), iterative practitioner interviews with Tibetan filmmakers, technicians, and writers, and participant observation at story/script discussions and film sets. This method helps understand how filmmakers, through their processes and practices, engage the complexities of Tibetan exile politics.


Keywords: Tibetan cinema, filmmaking, resistance, visual archive