Leaving Fear Behind A Secretly Produced Film

Leaving Fear Behind
A Secretly Produced Film
Captures the True Feelings of Tibetans

Tibetans Speak on Tibet, China and the Olympics

Media Briefing and Screening
August 6, 2008 12:00 pm
Beijing

For Release: August 6, 2008

Beijing: Today in the city of the XXIX Olympiad, an unprecedented film made secretly in Tibet and smuggled out just days before the March uprisings will be screened for world media. Leaving Fear Behind is a 25-minute documentary shot by a team of courageous Tibetan filmmakers which captures the sentiment within Tibet about China’s rule, the relevance and symbolism of the Olympic Games, and the return of the Dalai Lama.

A team of self-taught filmmakers from eastern Tibet, Dhondup Wangchen (a farmer) and his friend Golog Jigme (a monk), secretly filmed over 35 hours of interviews with everyday Tibetans on three subjects: Chinese rule in Tibet, the Beijing Olympic Games, and the Dalai Lama.

Armed with a $300 video camera, and with virtually no experience, the filmmakers set out on motorcycle, travelling to the remote corners of eastern Tibet and across the Tibetan plateau. From the beginning, their goal was to bring Tibetan voices to the Beijing Games. “It is very difficult for Tibetans to go to Beijing and speak out there. So that is why we decided to show the real feelings of Tibetans inside Tibet through this film,” notes the filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen in his film.

More than 100 interviews were taped from October 2007 to March 2008. Heartfelt feelings were recorded from Tibetans of all backgrounds: farmers, businessmen, students, nomads and monks, young and old. The authenticity of their responses speaks simply and eloquently of lives characterized by oppression and discrimination:

Quotes from interviewees:

“Actually we would be happy about the Games but much is being misrepresented. China was awarded the Games on the condition that the situation in China and Tibet would improve.”

“. . . outsiders may think that the Tibetans are treated very well and that they are happy. But the truth is that Tibetans are not free to speak of their suffering.”

“For every Tibetan, there are ten to fifteen Chinese. The Chinese are everywhere in these Tibetan areas.”

“Even if I had to sacrifice my life for this message to be seen by the Dalai Lama, I agree and welcome this chance.”

All twenty of the people who appear in the film agreed to have their faces shown on film - at great personal risk. Wangchen reveals that some interviewees “said that we absolutely had to show their faces, otherwise it wasn’t worth speaking to them,” so strong was their desire to counter Beijing’s narrative on Tibet.

During the precarious filming Dhondup Wangchen worked under the code name Jigme (“Fearless” in Tibetan). His code name, and the bravery of all those associated with this project, inspired the film’s name Jigdrel, which translates to Leaving Fear Behind.

Soon after sending out their tapes on March 10, 2008, Dhondup Wangchen and Golog Jigme were arrested. They remain in detention today. Dhondup Wangchen was last seen in detention in Guangsheng Binguan in Xining (Qinghai). Golog Jigme was last seen in a detention center in the town of Lingxia (Gansu).

Their tapes were transported to Switzerland, where the final cut was put together by Wangchen’s cousin, Gyaljong Tsetrin. Gyalijong Tsetrin, who escaped from Tibet in 2002, founded Filming For Tibet to produce this film.

Den norske TIBET-komité

Den norske Tibet-komité er en partipolitisk uavhengig, landsomfattende organisasjon som er dannet for å arbeide for tibetanernes rettigheter. Tibet-komitéen ble stiftet våren 1989 og har ca 1500 medlemmer. Det finnes tilsvarende støtte-organisasjoner for Tibet over hele verden. Den norske Tibet-komité er en av de største og mest aktive. Våren 1994 arrangerte vi i Norge en konferanse for de europeiske støttegruppene.

Norge og nordmenn har fått en spesiell stilling blant tibetanere etter at deres religiøse og politiske leder, Dalai Lama, i 1989 mottok Nobels fredspris. Flere av de tibetanerne som kom til Norge på 60-tallet, bor her fortsatt, og de er aktive i komitéen. Våren 1996 begynte radiostasjonen Voice of Tibet med sendinger til Tibet, og Norge har igjen styrket sin posisjon i tibetanernes bevissthet.

Tibet ble okkupert av Kina i 1950, og tibetanernes situasjon blir stadig forverret. Fundamentale menneskerettigheter brytes, og den rike tibetanske kulturen står nå i fare for å bli utslettet.

Den norske Tibet-komité har som formål å:

• Få norske myndigheter til anerkjenne Tibet som et okkupert land
  
• Informere om brudd på menneskerettigheter, økonomisk utbytting og diskriminering av tibetanere
  
• Gjøre Tibets rike kultur kjent i Norge