Nowhere to Call Home: A Tibetan in Beijing

Jocelyn Ford's excellent documentary offers a different perspective on the fate of Tibetans under Chinese rule. Ford, a Beijing-based reporter and filmmaker, focuses on Zanta, a Tibetan widow who fled her remote village for the capital in order to secure an education for her son. But Beijing proves inhospitable: ordinary Chinese look down on Tibetans as foreigners, refusing to rent to them, and Zanta can only eke out a living by selling jewelry near a subway line, where she is often hassled by police. Zanta's son, meanwhile, not only suffers from sleep deprivation due to his mother's work schedule, but also faces discrimination in school. Ford befriends Zanta, helping her to secure a place to live, along with entrance for the boy into a cheap (but ultimately unsatisfactory) private school. She also accompanies the pair on a visit to their hometown, where she observes firsthand the power that some families wield over others (largely because they have strapping sons). Here, Zanta tries to come to terms with her father-in-law, who is holding mother and son's identity cards as a way of controlling them. Although the outcome of the familial negotiation is somewhat positive, one senses as the travelers begin the trek back to Beijing that there is little hope their circumstances will significantly improve. Nowhere to Call Home offers a telling view of life's realities for Tibetans living in China. A startling and affecting film, this is highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)