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Directors To Attend Showing Of Controversial Movie About Tibet In Palm Springs

PALM SPRINGS – The directors of a documentary about Tibet and the Dalai Lama that prompted the Chinese government to boycott the Palm Springs International Film Festival are set to attend the North American premiere of the film today.

Chinese officials objected to the screening of “The Sun Behind the Clouds: Tibet’s Struggle for Freedom” because the Chinese oppose the Dalai Lama’s call for more independence for Tibet.

When festival organizers refused to bow to their demands, they withdrew their two entries, “City of Life and Death” and “Quick, Quick, Slow,” said festival Executive Director Darryl Macdonald.

The documentary by directors Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam follows the Dalai Lama over a year, including the 2008 protests in Tibet, the long march in India, the Beijing Olympics and the breakdown of talks with China.

“This is the new China, flexing its muscles on the international stage,” the documentary’s directors said in a posting on the film’s Facebook site.

Tickets were sold out for today’s 1:30 p.m. screening at the Palm Springs Regal 9. Tuesday’s showing at the Camelot Theatres was also sold out, according to the festival’s Web site.

The festival’s director said he was saddened by the Chinese withdrawal.

“We cannot allow the concerns of one country or community to dictate what films we should or should not play, based on their own cultural or political perspective,” Macdonald said.

The festival will replace the screening of “City of Life and Death” with the European film “For a Moment Freedom,” which will be shown at 11:30 a.m. Friday. The film centers on a group of Middle Eastern refugees who go to Turkey to apply for European visas.

The Canadian film “Sticky Fingers” will screen at 5:30 p.m. Sunday at the Palm Springs Regal 9. The film is a comedy about six of the world’s worst gangsters.

The replacement of “Quick, Quick, Slow” will be announced at a later date.

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