Propaganda

Human Rights

They dance with the tourists. They have their photos taken outside their homes. They smile at the foreigners as they play the obligatory propaganda game which is the rule in the region of Xinjiang, 4000 kms. from Beijing. Last June, a procession of officials travelled across this land of the Uyghurs and they too were obliged to assimilate a "propaganda lesson". But behind the masquerade are the invitations to inform on others, the summary arrests, the use of violence and the disappearances, all of which are part of daily life in this Chinese province where almost three million men are available to help the army control the Uyghurs, a Turkish-speaking Muslim people who are trying to resist the occupation of their territory by the Han Chinese.

For the first time , two French filmmakers have followed a Chinese government delegation , visiting the most hostile region : Xinjiang . This land of the Uighurs , also known as East Turkestan , is even more sensitive as Tibet. So this documentary project is an exclusive.