POSTPONED: Screening – Leaving Fear Behind
Leaving Fear Behind is a documentary at the forefront of issues of censorship in Tibet. Directed by Dhondup Wangchen, the film embarks on a meditative journey throughout Tibet in the summer of 2008, conducting an emotional opinion poll of ordinary Tibetans on the state of the nation, the upcoming Olympic games in China, and the continued exile of Tibet’s highest leader, the Dalai Lama.
Quiet and understated, the film concentrates on the hopelessness of the people in the face of Chinese oppression.
Before completion of the editing process, Wangchen and his assistant were imprisoned by Chinese officials and sent to jail, where Wangchen is still being held.
Peaceful and illuminating, Leaving Fear Behind brings attention to the voices which have been, and continue to be, silenced.
Directed by Dhondup Wangchen
30 mins
2010
Dechen Pemba is a UK-born Tibetan and spokesperson for "Leaving Fear Behind". Dechen met with Dhondup Wangchen in China in 2008, helped to secure the footage, and has been involved in the project and campaign ever since. Dechen spent over three years lobbying and campaigning on Tibetan issues in Berlin, Germany, before moving to Beijing in September 2006 to study Chinese at the Central University for Nationalities and lived in China until July 2008. She completed a Masters in Chinese Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, in September 2009. Dechen is currently the editor of the website High Peaks Pure Earth, which provides a unique insight into Tibet by providing translations of writings from Tibetan and Chinese blogs.
Kate Saunders is an expert on current Tibetan affairs. She is a writer and journalist and authored "Eighteen Layers of Hell: Stories from the Chinese Gulag" in 1996 as well as numerous reports on Tibet. As the London-based Communications Director for the International Campaign for Tibet headed by the Dalai Lama’s Special Envoy, Lodi Gyari, Kate leads a team monitoring the current situation in Tibet based in Nepal, India and Washington, DC.
Philippa Carrick is the Chief Executive Officer of Tibet Society, the world’s first Tibet support group, formed in 1959. Since taking up the role in 2002, Philippa has carried forward the Society’s political work and overseen a close working relationship with the Tibetan community in the UK. She played a leading role in organising the UK visit of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 2008. She is also the honorary Secretary for the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet and Chief Executive Officer of Tibet Relief Fund, a charity working to provide a sustainable future for the Tibetan people.
Further info
Further info on Dhondup Wangchen: http://www.tibetsociety.com/
Dhondup Wangchen profile: http://www.freetibetanheroes.
