BEIJING, Jan 18 (AFP) - A small US and Tibetan film crew have managed to secretly film part of a movie in Tibet, the film's production company, Paul Wagner Productions said Saturday.

"In early October, a small crew of American independant filmmakers and Tibetan political activists entered Chinese-occupied Tibet and secretly filmed exterior scenes on a small digital camera" for the movie The Wind Horse, the statement said.

"After a week of filming, they returned to Kathmandu, Nepal, and spent several more weeks filming interior scenes," the faxed statement added.

The Wind Horse, directed by Paul Wagner, "tells the story of an aspiring Tibetan pop singer who wins favor with the Chinese government of occupied Tibet, but faces a crisis of conscience when her cousin, a Buddhist nun, is imprisoned and tortured for her religious beliefs," it said.

The role of the singer is played by Tibetan-American singer Dadon.

Paul Wagner won an Academy Award in 1985 for his documentary "The Stone Carvers" and directed "Out of Ireland" in 1995.

Another film on Tibet, "Kundun", directed by Martin Scorsese for Walt Disney came under fire from China which warned against any attempt in the film to "distort the history of Tibet" or favour the Dalai Lama.

The Tibetan spiritual leader currently lives in exile in India after fleeing the country in 1959 following a failed uprising against Chinese rule.