Tibet Undercover

Streaming video - 2015

As Tibetan protesters take to the streets in the biggest and most bloody challenge to Chinese rule in nearly 20 years, Dispatches reports on the hidden reality of life under Chinese occupation after spending three months undercover, deep inside the region. Dozens are feared dead after the recent clashes and crackdown by Chinese troops but with reporting so rigidly controlled from the region little is known of living conditions inside Tibet. To make this film, Tibetan exile Tash Despa returns to the homeland he risked his life to escape eleven years ago to carry out secret filming with award-winning, Bafta-nominated director Jezza Neumann (Dispatches Special: China's Stolen Children). Risking imprisonment and deportation, he uncovers ev...idence of the 'cultural genocide' described by the Dalai Lama. He finds the nomadic way of life being forcefully wiped out as native Tibetans are stripped of their land and livestock and are being resettled in concrete camps. Undercover in Tibet reveals the regime of terror which dominates daily life and makes freedom of expression an impossibility. Tash meets victims of arbitrary arrests, detention, torture and 'disappearances' and uncovers evidence of enforced sterilisations on ethnic Tibetan women. He sees for himself the impact of the enormous military and police presence in the region, the hunger and hardship being endured by many Tibetans and hears warnings of the uprising taking place across the provinces now. AwardsWinner - Tibet Film Festival, Zurich Best Film - in 2009Winner - RTS Journalism Awards - Current Affairs - in 2008Nominee - Broadcast Awards - in 2008Nominee - 5th Tri-Continental Film Festival - in 2008Nominee - The Rory Peck Trust Awards - Outstanding Achievement - in 2008 "A terrifying portrayal of Chinese repression including shootings, torture and the brutal sterilisation of women left maimed by cruel operations" - Claudia Joseph, Daily Mail. "Evading spies in Tibet was harrowing for the journalist Jezza Neumann, but just a fraction of what locals suffer" - The Independent. "Last night on television: Dispatches: Undercover in Tibet (Channel 4)" - The Telegraph. more