Dharamshala — More than 145 Tibet-related organisations worldwide call on the Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival (KIMFF) to immediately cancel the Chinese propaganda program on Tibet:“Xizang Panorama”. They said that “Xizang Panorama” does not simply feature films about Tibet; it is rather a showcase of weaponised storytelling by China to further oppress Tibetans and erase their history.
KIMFF is screening six Tibet-related films backed by the Chinese government in Kathmandu, Nepal. The film festival began on May 28 and will end on June 1, 2025. More than 145 groups have issued a joint appeal to the KIMFF, urging them to cease their dissemination of Chinese propaganda related to Tibet.
The representatives of the organisations wrote, "We, a coalition of 145 global Tibet-related organisations, call on the Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival (KIMFF) to cancel China’s propaganda program, “Xizang Panorama” immediately."
"KIMFF’s “Xizang Panorama” is wrongly referring to Tibet with the name ‘Xizang,’ a highly politicised term that the occupying Chinese government is promoting as a “tool of imperial erasure.” Its use undermines the distinct historical and cultural identity of Tibet," they explained.
"Furthermore, the program – Xizang Panorama – is not only inaccurately named “Xizang,” but it also features propaganda films that showcase China’s false narrative about the situation in Tibet. One such is “Life of Buda,” which promotes China’s false narrative of the occupation of Tibet as a “peaceful liberation," they said.
The representatives said by adding, "These portrayals are not only false but very dangerous and are in opposition to KIMFF’s objective to give exposure to ‘educational programs’."
The representatives explains, "Tibet was illegally invaded by China in 1950, and under the ongoing occupation, it is recognised by human rights organisations and experts as one of the most repressive places on Earth – Freedom House ranks Tibet as the least free place in the world in terms of civil liberties and political rights. Under seven decades of repression, Tibetans have suffered the loss of all fundamental freedoms, the erasure of Tibetans’ language, unique identity, and way of living and even the forcible separation of nearly 1 million children from their families into China’s colonial-style residential boarding schools. This is nothing short of a cultural genocide targeting Tibet’s youngest and most vulnerable."
They said that “Xizang Panorama” does not simply feature films about Tibet; it is rather a showcase of weaponised storytelling by China to further oppress Tibetans and erase their history. By giving a platform for China’s propaganda, KIMFF is actively endorsing, normalising and justifying the Chinese government’s ongoing cultural genocide in Tibet.
The representatives and members of the 145 organisations call on the KIMFF to immediately cancel the “Xizang Panorama” program and film screenings, and to issue a public statement pledging to stop using the inaccurate propaganda term “Xizang” in any reference to Tibet.
Topjor Tsultrim, Communication Director of Students for a Free Tibet said, "These are not ordinary films. They are propaganda, carefully crafted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to rewrite history. The CCP wants to eliminate the word Tibet and replace it with "Xizang," a Mandarin colonial term. And they want to falsely reframe their brutal military occupation of Tibet as a "peaceful liberation" that freed Tibetans from savagery."
