Traditional Tibetan Rugs - artelino

Part 4 of the BBC and BFI documentary covers the period of growing tensions after the Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1950. The Dalai Lama, in spite of his young age took office in 1950 at the age of only 16. In 1954 he decided to travel to China to meet the top Chinese leaders.

Part 3 of this documentary by BBC in cooperation with the BFI (British Film Institute) Archives shows more rare footage from Lhasa. Most of the film documents were shot by the person in charge of the British mission in Lhasa.

Part 3 shows more splendid festivals that seem to come from another planet, and it ends with the occupation by the Chinese army in October 1951 (Lhasa).

The second part of this documentary co-production of the BBC and the BFI (British Film Institute) shows the life of the aristocracy and monks in Lhasa before 1950. Religious festivities according to old traditions and customs dominated the year.

'The Lost World of Tibet' is a documentary co-production of the BBC and the BFI (British Film Institute). The film shows rare and fascinating footage from Tibet and its medieval society from the 1930s until the 1950s.

The old images are commented by Dan Cruckshank and others, among them the 14th Dalai Lama and members of the Tibetan government in exile.

On March 17, 1959 the 14. Dalai Lama, disguised as a simple soldier, escaped from Norbulingka, the Summer Palace in Lhasa.

This article reports about the dramatic escape and the role of the American CIA in the affair. You see old documentary film material and interviews with former CIA members and agents from the special Tibetan Task Force.

The settlement in organized, social communities of the Tibetan high plateau may be as old as 4,000 BC or even older. But our knowledge about the history of Tibet does not start earlier than in the 7th century AD when the Tibetans developed their own writing. This article is a short introduction to the history of Tibet from early settlements until 842 AD when the decline of the Great Tibetan empire began after the assassination of King Langdharma.

Seven Years in Tibet is the title of a book written by Heinrich Harrer, an Austrian mountaineer and adventurer about an incredible but true story of spending seven years in the then forbidden country of Tibet from 1944 until 1951. In 1997 a popular film was produced with Brad Pitt playing Heinrich Harrer under the direction of Jean-Jacques Annaud.