PRESS CONFERENCE
Dhondup Wangchen, Tibetan Documentary Filmmaker in Exile
May 26, Friday, 11:00-12:00 (10 min screening + Press Conference)
(The speech and Q & A will be in Tibetan with English interpretation)
Leaving Fear Behind: A Tibetan Filmmaker Talks About Living Under Chinese Rule
Dhondup Wangchen was born in 1974 to a farming family in Huilong Hui Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, an area with a large Tibetan population. Between August 2007 and March 2008, Wangchen and a senior Tibetan monk named Jigme Gyatso gathered interviews from more than 100 Tibetans discussing on camera their views of the Chinese government. The 40 hours of taped interviews were smuggled out of Lhasa when riots began to spread through Tibetan-majority areas of China. The documentary premiered on the opening day of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.
In March 2008, Wangchen was arrested on charges of inciting national division. In 2012, he was awarded the International Press Freedom Award while in prison. Having served his sentence, and thanks to campaigns by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, he was released in 2014 but was subsequently placed under house arrest by Chinese authorities. In 2017, he successfully gained asylum and was reunited with his family in the U.S. for the first time in 10 years. This is Wangchen's first visit to Japan, which includes speaking engagements in Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Fukuoka, and other cities. There will be a short (10-minute) screening of "Jigdrel" (Leaving Fear Behind), followed by a press conference.
How to attend:
Please register at front@fccj.or.jp with your name, the name of your media outlet, and FCCJ membership number. Due to space restrictions attendance will be limited. Doors open 15 minutes before the event. Please sign in, giving your name and contact details at the reception, and have your temperature taken before proceeding.
How to watch online: https://www.youtube.com/c/FCCJchannel/live
Livestreaming of the press events will be available and video of this event will be uploaded to our FCCJ YouTube channel.
How to ask questions: https://forms.gle/mBd5Q9dv4hKegWwLA
Members watching the event online can submit questions for the speakers in advance using this submission form.
TV crew: Please make a reservation at front@fccj.or.jp. Doors open for TV crews only at 30 minutes before the event.
Professional Activities Committee