Seven Years in Tibet (1997)

Seven Years in Tibet has been banned in China since its release in 1997. Beijing condemned the film’s portrayal of Chinese rule in Tibet and went further than banning the movie: it barred the director and two of its stars from entering the country.

Key facts

• Status: officially banned in mainland China
• Released: 1997, directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud
• Stars: Brad Pitt and David Thewlis
• Extra penalty: Annaud, Pitt and Thewlis were barred from entering China

Why did China ban Seven Years in Tibet?

The film is based on the memoir of Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer, played by Pitt, who befriends the young Dalai Lama in the years before China’s army took control of Tibet in 1950. It shows Chinese officers in a harsh light, presents the Dalai Lama sympathetically and ends with title cards criticising Chinese rule. Beijing saw it as a direct attack on its claim to Tibet.

It was one of three Hollywood films about Tibet or China released that year, alongside Martin Scorsese’s Kundun and Richard Gere’s Red Corner. China banned all three, and the state-run China Daily warned that Hollywood would not be forgiven for them.

Were the actors really banned from China?

Yes. Annaud, Pitt and Thewlis were told they were not welcome in China. Annaud’s exile ended in 2012, when he was invited to chair the jury of the Shanghai International Film Festival, and he later directed the Chinese epic Wolf Totem. In January 2013 Pitt joined the Chinese social network Weibo with a short post saying he was coming, which drew huge attention given his status.

Is Seven Years in Tibet still banned in China?

Yes. The film has never been released in mainland China, and Tibet remains one of the most sensitive subjects for Chinese censors.

China has kept blocking Western films for political reasons ever since; Disney’s Christopher Robin (2018) was denied a release amid Winnie the Pooh memes about Xi Jinping. See every Chinese restriction we track on the China bans page.