FIRE UNDER THE SNOW

In 1959 thousands of Buddhist monks and nuns took to the streets of Lhasa to protest against the Chinese occupation of Tibet. Palden Gyatso was one of the many demonstrators who were arrested for the "crime" of peaceful protest. He spent the next 33 years in prison and labour camps under incredible duress, subjected to brutal torture, interrogations, starvation and beatings by the communist army. Nonetheless, despite his unspeakable suffering, the Buddhist monk refused to denounce his fellow protestors, stayed true to his faith and never faltered in his commitment to Tibetan Independence. Makoto Sasa pieces together Gyatso’s powerful, inspirational story through archive footage, old photographs and his personal memories of decades of incarceration. She also follows this deeply spiritual man as, even now, at the age of 75, he travels the world raising awareness of the suffering of the Tibetan people. This is a moving tribute to one man’s abiding humility, faith and strength against adversity: a chronicle of a life dedicated to a free Tibet.