by Peter Knegt
Balcony Releasing has announced that they will be distributing “The Sun Behind The Clouds: Tibet’s Struggle For Freedom” in US theaters this Spring. The White Crane Films Production, directed and produced by Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam, opens today, Wednesday, March 31, 2010 at New York City’s Film Forum.
Information on the forthcoming theatrical roll-out that Balcony will be handling will be announced as dates are confirmed and details become available.
“Behind The Clouds” explores Tibetans’ fifty-year struggle for independence, utilizing access to the Dalai Lama while examining his approach of dialogue and compromise compared to the more confrontational course of the younger generation of Tibetans. 2008, the year of the Beijing Olympics, saw the largest uprising of Tibetans against Chinese control since 1959. The Chinese government responded forcefully, precipitating unrest in the Tibetan exile community and inspiring a long march from India to the Tibetan homeland, amidst a groundswell of international sympathy.
Earlier this year, the film was the center of a controversy brought about when the Chinese government withdrew two films from the 21st Palm Springs International Film Festival in response to that festival’s inclusion of “The Sun Behind The Clouds.” When this ban was effectively extended to one of those Chinese films (“City of Life and Death”) and its booking at the Film Forum, the theater chose to replace it with “The Sun Behind The Clouds.” Balcony Releasing stated that “both the Palm Springs International Film Festival and the Film Forum should be acknowledged for their commitment to freedom of programming, support for dissenting viewpoints, and, of course, great movie-making.”
