jigdrel: leaving fear behind
Last week, I got an email from Karma Tashi, President of the Association Cognizance Tibet, North Carolina, and owner of Dechen Collections in Raleigh, NC; the email pointed me toward a short film called Leaving Fear Behind (Tibetan: Jigdrel). In it, the filmmakers (Dhondup Wangchen and Golog Jigme) interview Tibetans about the (then) upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing.
What they reveal is continued suppression and mistreatment of Tibetans by the Chinese. Tibetans are still not allowed even a photo of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, their property is fenced off and taken away and they are relocated to Potemkin settlements, and any kind of protest or civil disobedience results in imprisonment and (if reports out of Tibet are accurate) torture.
China was awarded the XXIX Olympic Games on the condition that they would uphold their promises to improve human rights, labour conditions, and democracy in Tibet and throughout China. They also promised media freedom to the world press during the Olympics, as well as a clean-up of Beijing itself.
None of these promises were kept.
The footage in Leaving Fear Behind was smuggled out of Tibet after filming was finished. On August 6, the filmmakers attempted to screen a print of the film in Beijing, but Chinese Public Security Bureau (PSB) agents disrupted the press conference and screening, and arrested the filmmakers Dhondup Wangchen and Golog Jigme; as of right now, they still remain in detention, despite appeals to the IOC and the Chinese government.
Watch Leaving Fear Behind here, and please spread the word.