When the Dragon Swallowed the Sun (Dirk Simon, 2010): USA

Reviewed by Nitsa Pomerleau. Viewed at the Santa Barbara Film Festival 2010.

When the Dragon Swallowed the Sun is the result of director  Dirk Simon’s seven-year , trans-global journey to understand the social, politcal, and spiritual situation in Tibet.  This documentary features controversial footage from  India, China, and Tibet; and interviews  exiled students as well as some of the key leaders of the struggle to free Tibet, namely  Archbishop Desmond Tutu,  and the Dalai Llama.

This is an interactive, multi-media response to Simon’s journey:

When a documentary has a musical score by Thom Yorke (of radiohead), Damien Rice,  Phillip Glass and Bjork, you ought to pay attention and listen and listen and listen.