DHARAMSHALA, February 6: A film festival on the state of global human rights, currently underway in Oslo, Norway will be focusing on Tibet with the screening of three prominent Tibetan documentaries.
The Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival from February 5-10, will feature “exceptional films, talks and debates about the current state of Human Rights and human rights filmmaking in Norway and the world.”
In its fifth edition, this year the Festival’s topics are “Outcasts, Freedom of Expression, Protest Movements and Payback/ Economic Injustice.”
Award winning Tibetan documentaries "Leaving Fear Behind," "The Sun Behind the Cloud," and "Tibet in Song" will be screened during the Festival.
According to the organisers, the Tibet Night at the festival is scheduled on February 7 and will include a panel discussion on the situation inside Tibet apart from discussions with the filmmakers.
Jailed Tibetan filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen’s hard-hitting documentary film ‘Leaving Fear Behind,’ portraying life in Tibet in advance of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing will open the Tibet Night.
Wangchen, recipient of the 2012 International Press Freedom Awards was arrested on March 26, 2008 and sentenced to six years in prison for “subversion” on December 28, 2009 following a secret trial.
Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam’s award winning film, ‘The Sun Behind the Clouds’ will be screened next followed by Tibetan musician Ngawang Choephel’s ‘Tibet in Song.’
Choephel, a Tibetan refugee, who had gone back to Tibet study and record traditional Tibetan music was arrested and sentenced to 18 years in prison. The Chinese government released him after six years of relentless international protests.
The film has been described as a “heartening tale of cultural exploitation and resistance, including Ngawang’s own imprisonment for filming folk songs in Tibet, and ends with a look at Tibet today, a country still plagued by Chinese brutality, yet still willing to fight for the existence of its own cultural heritage.”
Also on February 7, a panel discussion on ‘Tibetans: Enjoying human rights or victims of cultural genocide?’ will be held. The panelists include Chungdak Koren, Tibetan Member of Parliament, Ngawang Choephel, and Oystein Alme.
Koren will also speak on the wave of self-immolations and protests against the Chinese authorities' repressive policies in Tibet on Friday 8 as part of another debate, ‘Unsupported Protests in many countries, What can the international community do to support peaceful protest movements in these countries.’
The Human Rights Human Wrongs Film Festival is organised by The Human Rights House Oslo and
Oslo Dokumentarkino (the Oslo Documentary Cinema).
The first version of the festival was organised
in December 2008 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Human Rights Declaration and since 2010, the Festival has been an annual event.
Source: Phayul.com
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