Published by: World Tibet Network News ISSUE ID: 97/10/22

By Annie Groer and Ann Gerhart

WASHINGTON - October 22 - (WP) -- Actor Richard Gere will be in town tonight for an invitation-only preview of his new flick, "Red Corner," about a hotshot American entertainment lawyer facing trumped-up murder charges in China.

The film gives Gere, a Buddhist and champion of the exiled Dalai Lama, a golden opportunity to rap China for its treatment of Tibetans as well as Chinese.

Joining him at the movie and a late party at Sequoia in Georgetown will be director Jon Avnet, as well as actors Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins, who have nothing to do with the flick but care deeply about Tibet.

Gere returns here next Wednesday for a rally in Lafayette Square that will coincide with the state visit of Chinese President Jiang Zemin. "I am not really calling it a demonstration against him. It's an encouragement toward him," Gere told The Source. "We don't really want to shove him against the wall as if the past were his responsibility. But from this time forward, it is his responsibility."

Beastie Boy Adam Yauch, writer Bette Bao Lord, activists Li Lu and Harry Wu, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Kerry Kennedy Cuomo will also speak at the protest.

Although China, Buddhism and the Dalai Lama are much on the big screen of late, don't look for "Seven Years in Tibet" star Brad Pitt in Lafayette Square.

"He's not politically active in that area," said his publicist, Cindy Guagenti. "He feels that the movie will speak for itself."