Documentary
A Year in Tibet Thursday 13 March
9:00pm - 10:00pm
BBC4
2/5 - Three Husbands and a Wedding
It's harvest time and farmer Dundan is worried. Will the crops be destroyed by hail? The local government has acquired anti-aircraft guns that fire shells into the clouds to prevent hailstones forming. His brother Tseden, the shaman, laments the new technology. It used to be his job to stop hail using meditation and ancient rituals. His main role is officiating over wedding arrangements. He determines one bride must leave her family home at 3am. Following tradition, she doesn't know it's her big day. "We haven't told her yet," says her mother. "But we think she's guessed." When her groom's brother has left school in a year or two, she'll have to marry him, too. Documentary series are rarely this engaging - and it's all played out against the backdrop of the mountains. Now the railway has come to Lhasa; it's like a Mrs Gaskell novel, but for real.
RT reviewer - Geoff Ellis
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Subtitled, Widescreen