Religion And Film: Picturing Tibet

In this seminar we will study the various roles that contemporary film and visual media have played in the political, social, religious, and historical constructions of what constitutes Tibet, its culture, and its people. In order to do this, we will view a variety of documentary, feature, and social media films made during the last seventy years by American, European, Chinese, and Tibetan directors. Specific themes addressed in the class will include: Orientalism and Western representations of Tibet; Hollywood and the Dalai Lama; competing historical narratives regarding Tibet’s status vis-à -vis China; how ethnic minorities (in particular Tibetans) have been portrayed in Chinese movies; the centrality of Buddhism in cinematic depictions of what comprises “Tibetan-ness;” the constraints on and distinctive filmic visions of Tibetan directors inside China; the ethics and dangers of filming undercover; and the roles social and visual media have played in Free Tibet activism.