Episode description

After 75 years of Chinese Communist Party rule in Tibet, and as Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, approaches his 90th birthday, Tibet is at a critical juncture. FRONTLINE’s documentary Battle For Tibet goes inside the long-running struggle over the future of the mountainous region.

Award-winning producer and director Gesbeen Mohammad joins The FRONTLINE Dispatch to discuss what the film reveals about life in Tibet now, and the uncertain future for Tibetan Buddhism, language and culture. 

Drawing on undercover footage, interviews with Tibet and China experts, Chinese government statements, and accounts from Tibetans now living in exile, Battle For Tibet examines the Chinese government’s tight control over the territory, including its system of boarding schools and a vast network of surveillance inside places like monasteries. 

“Tibet is one of the world's most tightly guarded regions,” Mohammad told Raney Aronson-Rath, FRONTLINE’s editor-in-chief and executive producer. “So it felt like an important area to examine…particularly as there are various allegations that some of the policies are infringing on Tibetan’s religion and unique culture.” 

You can stream Battle For Tibet on FRONTLINE’s website, FRONTLINE’s YouTube channel, or the PBS App. 

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