Vancouver

Lhamo Tso: Voicing Tibetan Courage

Public Talk and Film Screening of "Leaving Fear Behind"

7:00pm
- 8:30pm
Monday May 7 2012

Canada Tibet Committee Vancouver is honoured to host Lhamo Tso for a public talk and screening of “Leaving Fear Behind”. Her husband, Dhondup Wangchen, created the 30-minute documentary film in 2008. He filmed clandestinely in Tibet, hoping to provide a vehicle for Tibetans to express their views prior to the Beijing Olympics. He was subsequently arrested by Chinese authorities and charged with “subversion”. He is serving a 6 year prison sentence for having created this film.  

Lhamo Tso’s personal story is, in some ways, typical of many Tibetan refugees. Following in the footsteps of thousands since 1959, Lhamo Tso fled Tibet five years ago, seeking freedom from political oppression, and safety for her family. She now lives in Dharamsala, India, where she has supported her 4 children and in-laws by selling homemade bread at a roadside stall. The desire for freedom and safety, and the struggle to achieve it, are typical. But Lhamo Tso and her husband are extraordinary for their strength and creativity, and for the deeply held personal conviction that fuels their mission to help other Tibetans, despite facing extreme personal risks, and costs.  

After his family was settled in India, out of reach of Chinese authorities, Dhondup Wangchen created the documentary film that would give voice to Tibetans before the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He travelled widely interviewing Tibetans from all walks of life, and then managed to smuggle the raw footage and editing instructions out of China. In March 2008 Chinese authorities arrested him. He was denied legal representation, has suffered torture and illness, and to this day remains incarcerated in a prison labour camp.  (Amnesty International Urgent Action on behalf of Dhondup Wangchen: http://www.amnesty.ca/blog_post2.php?id=1407).

Through his film, “Leaving Fear Behind”, and due to Lhamo Tso’s determined efforts to continue to voice the message, Dhondup Wangchen and the people of the Tibetan plateau have not been silenced.

We welcome you to join Lhamo Tso on May 7, for the film, and for discussion on contexts, hopes, dreams, passions, and actions in Tibet.