The controversial documentary film from Ritu Sarin and Sonam Tenzing "The Sun Behind The Clouds: Tibet's Struggle for Freedom" won the Silver Conch Award at the 11th Mumbai International Film Festival of Documentary, Animation and Short Films, which concluded on February 9, 2010 in Mumbai. The Silver Conch and a cash award Rs 1,50,000 were given in the Documentary above 30-minutes category, for ‘upholding the spirit of freedom and maintaining a sense of balance while bringing about different perspectives within the Tibetan struggle’.
In The Sun Behind the Clouds, Sarin and Sonam take a uniquely Tibetan perspective on the trials and tribulations of the Dalai Lama and his people as they continue their struggle for freedom in the face of determined suppression by one of the world’s biggest and most powerful nations. The filmmakers had intimate access to the Dalai Lama and followed him over the course of an eventful year, which included the 2008 protests in Tibet, the international response to it, the Beijing Olympics, and the breakdown in talks between the Dalai Lama and the Chinese government. Set against this backdrop, the film explores the interplay between the personal and the historic, spirituality and politics, and the tension between the Dalai Lama's efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the Tibet situation based on compromise and dialogue, and the impatience of a younger generation of Tibetans who are ready to take a more confrontational course.
The film had its North American premiere at the recently concluded Palm Springs International Film Festival in California where it became the focus of much media attention when the Chinese government tried to get the festival to remove the film, ostensibly for its anti-China stand. When the festival refused, two Chinese films were withdrawn in retaliation. The film had three sold-out screenings and a fourth was added when it was voted one of the Best of the Fest films.
