Tibetan filmmaker flees China, arrives in United States
Dhondup Wangchen was jailed for six years in 2009 for making a documentary in which Tibetans praise the Dalai Lama and complain about the authorities’ treatment of their culture
A Tibetan filmmaker jailed in China for making a film about the Olympics and Tibet has escaped from China and arrived in the United States, according to an activist group that campaigned for his release.
Dhondup Wangchen was jailed for six years in late 2009 in the western province of Qinghai after he made a documentary in which ordinary Tibetans praised the Dalai Lama and complained about how their culture had been trampled upon.
The film, Leaving Fear Behind, features a series of interviews with Tibetans who talk about how they still love their exiled spiritual leader and thought the 2008 Beijing Olympics would do little to improve their lives.
The film was shown in secret to a small group of foreign reporters in Beijing during the 2008 Olympics.
In a statement late on Wednesday Beijing time, the group Filming for Tibet said Dhondup Wangchen had arrived in San Francisco the same day.
“After many years, this is the first time I’m enjoying the feeling of safety and freedom,” the group quoted him as saying.