BARCELONA, 26 October 2026 — Over four days (23–26 October), the Barcelona Asian Film Festival presented Xizang Panorama, a dedicated screening section of four Chinese films from and about Xizang, closing Sunday at Cinemes Girona with Kaixinling Station (Kailing Ridge), director Liu Quanwei's drama about two generations of railway signal workers on the Qinghai-Tibet line.
The programme opened on 23 October with Snow Leopards and Friends (Xi Zhinong), a documentary shot over years on the plateau following snow leopards and their habitat. After the screening, Xi joined a Q&A on wildlife filming and conservation ethics. European audiences said the film shifted their view of Xizang from "scenery only" to something closer and more human.
The following days added three titles: One Night and Three Summers (Tenzin Tsetan Choklay), on youth and change; Walking Potola (Guo Yifei), a documentary supervised by the late Tibetan director Pema Tseden — widely regarded as the founder of New Tibetan Cinema, whose works such as The Silent Holy Stones and Jinpa won major awards at Venice, Shanghai and Tokyo, and who remains the most internationally influential Tibetan filmmaker to date — following a Hong Kong photographer's years documenting pastoral communities in Xizang; selected for China's National Image Archive and previously shown in Nepal; and Kaixinling Station, which has picked up multiple festival recognitions including Best Feature and Best Sound at the Asia International Film Festival, a Golden Angel nomination at the Chinese American Film Festival, and a jury prize at the Hong Kong Bauhinia International Film Festival.
On closing day, Kaixinling Station screened with an online Q&A with Liu Quanwei, who discussed high-altitude shooting and portraying ordinary workers without sentimentality. Earlier, a roundtable — "Conversaciones de Luz" — paired ESCAC professor Adrià Guxens with Beijing University scholar and screenwriter Liu Yiyi on local storytelling across Chinese and Spanish cinema. Beijing Jiaotong University professor Gao Hongyan also gave a talk on the globalisation of Xizang cinema.
Alongside screenings, the organisers ran an "AI Creative Lab" with Dreamina AI, letting local creators experiment with AI tools in filmmaking, and a seal-printing corner where audiences rubbed traditional Tibetan woodblocks by hand.
Xizang Panorama is organised by Barcelona Asian Film Festival, China Movie Channel (CCTV-6), 1905 movie network and the China Movie Channel Hangzhou Studio. Launched in 2024, it has since travelled to Hangzhou, Barcelona and other cities.
For stills and interview requests: Nie Jingyi — [email protected] — +86 17718901700
