VULTURES OF TIBET
Student Academy Award Nominated Filmmakers Evade Detection in
Western China to Gain Special Access to Tibetan Funeral Rite
Edinburgh, Scotland – June 27, 2013 – Nominated for a Student Academy Award, the film
will be playing at the Edinburgh International Film Festival at Filmhouse 2 (88 Lothian Road,
Edinburgh EH3 9BZ) Thursday, June 27 at 4:30pm as part of the Rapture & Revelation Shorts
Program.
VULTURES OF TIBET explores the recent commercialization of a sacred Tibetan funeral tradition known
as Sky Burial. In Sky Burial, Tibetans ritually feed the bodies of their dead to wild Griffon Vultures as an
offering to benefit other living beings. With the modernization of Western China and the expansion of
tourism in Tibet, burial sites are now highlighted on tourist maps and local officials charge visitors
admission to view the private ritual. Against the will of affected families, visitors take photos and video,
often posting them online. Filmed in August, 2011, when regional tensions became so unbearable that
scores of Tibetans began setting themselves on fire; VULTURES OF TIBET reveals the current state of Sky
Burial as an anecdote of the larger ideological issues in Tibet today. Exposing a world in which nature and
culture, humans and animals, spirituality and politics are all interconnected, VULTURES OF TIBET
engages audiences with the potential for oppression in the act of looking.
