A travelling film festival seeks to cast light on the travails of Tibetans and their life in exile, finds Arati Rao.
What does a filmmaker who’s just made a documentary about Tibet do when a behemoth like China exerts all manner of pressure to ensure the film does not see the light of day? For one, through informal channels of communication and activist connections, he passes on the message about the existence of the film. Then, by sheer dint of will, his and other films like his are collected and somehow, a film festival comes about – similar to the one that will be organised in the city this fortnight.
Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam, two filmmakers who will show Dreaming Lhasa at the festival, spoke of hardships other than censorship and the rule of might as well. “The first is a common problem for all independent filmmakers, that is, the problem of raising finances. However, this is exacerbated in the Tibetan context because we don’t have a real market to release our film in,” Sarin said in an email from Delhi, and chose to reiterate the problems caused by China, which opposes Tibetan autonomy and which invaded Tibet in 1950, forcing thousands of Tibetans into exile. “The second challenge is to do with finding an outlet for your film, particularly as China puts incredible pressure on film festivals and television channels not to show films that are critical of its rule in Tibet.”
This year marks the fiftieth year of Tibetans in exile, and Bangalore, the capital of a state that has provided sanctuary to about 45 per cent of the estimated 1.35 lakh refugees in India, is the first stop for the travelling film festival. Thupten Tsewang, programme manager of Delhi-based The Foundation for Universal Responsibility of His Holiness The Dalai Lama, said, “We hold talks, seminars, workshops and film festivals, usually in Delhi or Dharamsala. This year, we thought that with all the different films we’re showing, we could travel as well.”
The foundation is collaborating with different organisations in India and abroad to finalise venues for the festival. The 16 films that will be screened broadly fall into three categories: the life or beliefs of the Dalai Lama, Tibetans in exile and Buddhism. These include Martin Scorcese’s Kundun, Paul Wagner’s critically-acclaimed 1998 endeavour Windhorse, and Leaving Fear Behind, a controversial documentary by amateur filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen about what Tibetans thought about the Beijing Olympic Games. “Many of the films are popular among the general public,” Tsewang said. “Some are a little famous and we’ve tried to make sure none are outdated in terms of the information they communicate.”
California-based producer-director Will Parrinello was inspired to make Dreaming of Tibet after an encounter with nurse Tsering Lhamo, a living Bodhisattva, at the Tibetan Refugee Reception Centre in Kathmandu.
“I saw how peaceful the recent refugees were and forgiving of the Chinese who had subjugated them, their families and friends, and I knew I wanted to take a closer look at Tibetan people’s culture and belief system,” he said in an email.
Parrinello has just completed a 30-minute documentary called Mustang – Journey of Transformation, which was screened at the Tribeca Film Festival in Manhattan. It draws attention to the Himalayan kingdom of Mustang, one of the last sanctuaries of authentic Tibetan Buddhist culture, which is dangerously close to collapse. Meanwhile, Sonam and Sarin are working on a theatrical feature documentary about the Dalai Lama and the political situation of Tibet, the television version of which was telecast in March on French and Dutch television. “We have been making films on Tibetan subjects for the past twenty years and we will continue doing so. It’s our life and our obsession,” Sonam stated.
There are several creative endeavours to engage with the Tibetans in Bangalore as well. City-based musician, theatre person and filmmaker Preetam Koilpillai has worked closely with Tibetans in the city on a play (it is still in the works). “What I gathered from the interaction is that the community is at a very interesting point of time, in terms of their reaction to China,” he said. “Young people, particularly, feel a more proactive reaction would work better, and that’s tricky because it goes explicitly against what the Dalai Lama says. A few even suggest militant action.”
Jangchup Lingpa of Think Tibet, a volunteer group comprising both Tibetans and Indians, explained further, “Young Tibetans in exile feel the issue is in a non-progressive state. It’s ignored internationally because of the illusion created by the booming economy of China.”
To that end, he believes the film festival comes at the right time. “In one way, the festival will mark an anniversary of our 50 years in exile.
In another, it’s a reminder, a retrospect and an information source about a country that still hasn’t achieved what it has been struggling for, for over five decades,” he said. Koilpillai added, “The impact of such a film festival depends on the kind of people who attend it. The regular film festival crowd would already know about Tibet. But the average person in India doesn’t know or care about the problem. They just term them ‘Chinky’ and don’t give a shit.” |
Register
