ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS
Dhondup Wangchen was born on 17th October 1974 in Bayen in the Tsoshar region of Amdo, the northeastern province of Tibet (in Chinese: Hualong, Haidong, Qinghai). Born into a farming family, he received no formal education. As a young man, he moved to Lhasa where he was awakened to the grave existential threat faced by the Tibetan people.
In 1993 Dhondup Wangchen and his cousin Gyaljong Tsetrin made an arduous journey out of Tibet to India, traveling on foot over 5,000 meter passes to meet the Dalai Lama. Soon thereafter, both returned to Tibet further motivated to work for the benefit of the Tibetan people. Tsetrin was forced to finally flee Tibet in 2002 and received political asylum in Switzerland. Wangchen remained in Tibet. Leaving Fear Behind (in Tibetan, Jigdrel) began as a collaboration between the two cousins in 2007 – Wangchen in Tibet, and Tsetrin in Switzerland.
The film was shot entirely in Tibet by Wangchen assisted by his friend Jigme Gyatso, also known as Golog Jigme. Jigme Gyatso was born in 1969 in Golog Serta, in the Kardze region of Kham (in Chinese: Ganzi, Sichuan). He was a Tibetan Buddhist monk in Labrang Monastery in Gansu Province.
Wangchen and Gyatso began as complete amateurs, with no camera experience, but with extraordinary determination and courage. They covered thousands of miles on motorbike and overcame innumerable hurdles, all to bring the unheard voices of ordinary Tibetans to the world stage.
For the filmmakers, revealing their identities was always a part of the plan. Fully aware of the risks they took, they rejected anonymity as an option. In order for the film to be made, fear had to be truly set aside.
Both Dhondup Wangchen and Golog Jigme are now in detention. They were detained shortly after concluding filming in March 2008. Please go to TAKE ACTION to publicize their cases and secure their release.
During the project, Dhondup assumed a code name: Jigme – which means "fearless" in Tibetan. His code name inspired the film’s title: Leaving Fear Behind (in Tibetan, Jigdrel).
DHONDUP WANGCHEN, IN HIS OWN WORDS:
The idea of our film is not to get famous or to give entertainment. But at a time of great difficulty and a feeling of helplessness, it is for us to show such a film to get some meaningful response and results. It is very difficult [for Tibetans] to go to Beijing and speak out there. So that is why we decided to show the real feelings of Tibetans inside Tibet through this film.
Nowadays, China is declaring that they are preserving and improving Tibetan culture and language. That’s what they’re telling the world. Many organizations and offices have been set up for these things. What they say and what they do are totally different, opposites. If they really want to preserve and improve Tibetan culture and language in Tibet then they should withdraw Chinese people living in Tibetan areas. Tibetan culture and language has to be practiced in all Tibetan areas. If it’s not practiced, how can it be preserved?
The desire to demonstrate against the Chinese hosting of the Olympic Games was strong in me since long ago and I think I will still do it... I think I need to stand up for the Tibetans and this is where I need to go. Staying away from my children and family is one of the hardships, if I live on.