This paper studies on Pema Tseden’s fourth Tibetan feature, The Sacred Arrow (2014) which was state-supported and local-government-established filmmaking project, aimed to promote Amdo Tibetan cultural tourism, with a focus on Tibetan traditional archery sport cultural heritage in company with the storytelling strategies and visual expressions of Tibetan Opera. Elsewhere (Li 2023, 2025), I have argued that Pema Tseden attempted to reconcile with his identity of ‘non-Han’ / ‘ethnic minority’ through this film to win over a broader living space for Tibetan-language films in the PRC. That said, I argue further in this paper that this attempt is also representing his successful use of filmmaking in the conservation of the PRC’s Tibetan intangible cultural heritage. In other words, adhering to the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (UNESCO 2005), by the means of filmmaking as a visual method of Tibetan cultural negotiation within the ‘official’, ‘mainstream’ and ‘dominant ethnic’ discourses in the PRC, the film ultimately enhances a cultural translation and interpretation in safeguarding Tibetan intangible cultural practices whereby Tibetan cultural ‘self-expression’. Through undertaking a close textual reading of the key film sequences and leveraging on the empirical data, this paper makes an endeavour to answer the research questions: 1) how far does this film practice a role in safeguarding PRC’s Tibetan intangible cultural heritage? 2) To what extent can ‘the conservation’ of Tibetan intangible cultural heritage in the PRC be negotiated culturally with the visual representation of this film and its social dissemination?

Authors:
Yang Li, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, China

About the Presenter(s)
Dr Yang Li is currently working as an Assistant Professor in Academy of Film and Creative Technology at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou, PRC.

See this presentation on the full schedule – Thursday Schedule

Bookmark