The Chinese government has produced a documentary film to show that life for the lower classes in Tibet was allegedly torturous under the reign of the Dalai Lama, which ended after he fled to India in 1959.
The purpose of the film is to tell foreign audiences that life in Tibet was no Shangri-la until the government in Beijing freed the poor in the mountainous region from serfdom in 1959, said Wu Haiyue, the film director. Serf owners, including some lamas, held their serfs as private property and even traded them for horses, the documentary shows.

The film depicts a 51-year-old woman, Deqen Zholma, who was born as a slave and registered as "private property" of a rich family. This was done as part of the Thirteen-Article Code and Sixteen-Article Code, which allowed serf-owners to dispose of their "private properties" by offering them as gifts or exchanging for horses.

"Fortunately, she soon shook off the bondage of serf-owners thanks to the democratic reform in 1959," the official media said discussing the 25-minute film produced by China Central Newsreel and Documentary Film Studio, a government organisation. The film is based on video clips made by the organisation in the 1950s and recent interviews of people shown in the old clips.

Deqen, now 51, lives in Gyangze and breeds six bulls, all of them her own. The film contains an interview with Deqen, who recalls the "miserable life" of her childhood. It also shows interviews with six other witnesses from the past including a serf-owner, a lama and former slaves. "This documentary is shot for foreign audiences who either know or do not know Tibet, and we use the dictation of eye-witnesses and historical video clips to show audience the facts," Haiyue was quoted by the official media as saying.

The government had earlier given its encouragement to a television series, which showed the fifth Living Buddha fighting against British efforts to separate Tibet from mainland China. The 20-episode TV drama, produced by a private company, was shown on Chinese official television and praised for its efforts to promote patriotism.

It showed the fifth Living Buddha being killed by local forces seeking Tibetan independence at the behest of the British. It is of profound significance to safeguarding the reunification of China and the unity of all the ethnic groups, an expert panel said about the TV serial after it began to be shown during prime time