Tibetan Filmmaker sentenced to six years for his documentary

Zurich, 6. January 2010. Dhondup Wangchen, the Tibetan filmmaker who is currently in Chinese detention, has been sentenced to six years imprisonment by the provincial court in Xining (capital of Qinghai province). The sentencing took place on 28 December 2009 but his relatives in Xining were neither informed about the trial nor the verdict.

Outrageous!!!
 This filmmaker made a documentary in Tibet and has been sentenced to six years in prison.

Write a letter, send a fax, to to the webset and watch the movie at http://www.leavingfearbehind.com/downloads.php
Here's my letter to the Minister of Justice:

Jan. 21st, 2010

Minister of Justice of the People's Republic of China
WU Aiying Buzhang
Sifabu
10 Chaoyangmen Nandajie
Chaoyangqu
Beijingshi 100020
People's Republic of China

Dear Minister,

It has come to my attention that an amateur filmmaker has been sentenced to six years in prison for making a film.  I've seen footage from his film "Leaving Fear Behind," and can see that he made a film without much more than his camera and computer. Since the proliferation of video cameras worldwide, anyone can take up a camera and point it in the direction of someone else and ask them a question. 

Certainly the great country of China has it within their power to allow artists to take photographs, or paint pictures, or create music that reflects the times.  I've been to China a number of times, and am always amazed by the breadth, depth and mastery of Chinese artists.  The history of China is replete with artists and craftsmen making artwork that reflects their time in history.  I submit to you that a student asking his fellow citizens what they think of the upcoming Olympics (the 2008 Beijing Olympics) is not an act of sedition, rather it is a time capsule of feelings from the region.

Since China claims that Tibet has always been part of China, I find it ironic that the government doesn't treat their Tibetan brothers with the same dignity and expression that they might allow in their fellow artists in Shanghai or Hong Kong.  Certainly, a filmmaker like Chen Kaige has made films that reflect a time and a place - I submit to you that if China truly considers Tibet to be part of its heritage, then it should allow those artists and filmmakers, even if they're student filmmakers, to be allowed to express themselves.  No flags were burned. No posters were printed. No one was harmed by the telling of this story.  In fact, the opposite is true - its made the government of China appear weak, repressive and frightened by a student with a video camera.
(http://www.leavingfearbehind.com/index.php)

I sincerely hope the Justice system finds a way to right this wrong. Having spent time in Tibet, Shanhai and Beijing myself (as well as Hong Kong), it's apparent that the authorities in Tibet  act with a heavier hand then perhaps in other regions of China.  I will ask my fellow filmmakers here in the U.S. to lend their voices to help get this student (and the monk who assisted him) out of prison and home to his family.

Respectfully,

Richard Martini
Documentary Filmmaker ("Journey Into Tibet")
Member of Director's Guild, Writer's Guild and Screen Actor's Guild (as if that would help!)

Anyways, with a concerted effort towards his release, we all were able to get Tibetan filmmaker Ngawang Choephel out of prison (letters to Amnesty Intl, people like Diana Takata with the Students for a Free Tibet, contributions from many people across the planet) - and he went on to win Sundance last year for his documentary!!!!

It's an amazing story - and at the very least write a letter to protest.. here's the details from his website:

PLEASE WRITE IMMEDIATELY in Mandarin or your own language,
calling on the Chinese authorities to:

> release Dhondup Wangchen immediately and unconditionally, as he has been detained solely for his peaceful exercise of the right to freedom of expression;

> guarantee that while he remains in custody, he is not tortured or otherwise ill-treated, and has access to family, legal assistance of his choosing and any medical care he may require;

> ensure that Dhondup Wangchen’s trial is in line with international fair trial standards;

> conduct a prompt and impartial investigation into the allegations that Dhondup Wangchen has been tortured and otherwise ill-treated, with a view to bringing those responsible to justice.


Minister of Justice of the People's Republic of China
WU Aiying Buzhang
Sifabu
10 Chaoyangmen Nandajie
Chaoyangqu
Beijingshi 100020
People's Republic of China
Fax: +86 10 65292345
Email: pfmaster@legalinfo.gov.cn
Salutation: Dear Minister

Prime Minister of the People's Republic of China
WEN Jiabao Guojia Zongli
The State Council General Office
2 Fuyoujie
Xichengqu
Beijingshi 100017
People's Republic of China
Fax: +86 10 65961109 (c/o Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Salutation: Your Excellency

Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country.

False celebrity at the Olympics, is that a surprise?

Hmm.. gee, I wonder if there's any connection between the public pronouncements of the Chinese govt about Tibet and the idea that they needed a prettier girl to sing the title song? Or between fake fireworks and their position that they've always been in Tibet? Someone once said that truth will set you free - one can only hope that it will eventually free China, and by extension, free Tibet.

OLYMPIC CHILD SINGING STAR REVEALED AS A FAKE

By Charles Whelan Tue Aug 12, 8:30 AM ET

BEIJING (AFP) - The little girl who starred at the Olympic opening ceremony was miming and only put on stage because the real singer was not considered attractive enough, the show's musical director has revealed.

Pigtailed Lin Miaoke was selected to appear because of her cute appearance and did not sing a note, Chen Qigang, the general music designer of the ceremony, said in an interview with a state broadcaster aired Tuesday.

Photographs of Lin in a bright red party dress were published in newspapers and websites all over the world and the official China Daily hailed her as a rising star on Tuesday.

But Chen said the girl whose voice was actually heard by the 91,000 capacity crowd at the Olympic stadium during the spectacular ceremony was in fact seven-year-old Yang Peiyi, who has a chubby face and uneven teeth.

"The reason why little Yang was not chosen to appear was because we wanted to project the right image, we were thinking about what was best for the nation," Chen said in an interview that appeared briefly on the news website Sina.com before it was apparently wiped from the Internet in China.

Lin was seen to perform the patriotic song "Ode to the Motherland" as China's national flag was carried into the stadium, a key moment in the three hour ceremony.

"The reason was for the national interest. The child on camera should be flawless in image, internal feelings, and expression," said Chen, a renowned contemporary composer and French citizen.

"Lin Miaoke is excellent in those aspects. But in terms of voice, Yang Peiyi is perfect, each member of our team agreed," he said.

He said the final decision to stage the event with Lin lip-synching to another girl's voice was taken after a senior member of China's ruling Communist Party politburo attended a rehearsal.

"He told us there was a problem that we needed to fix it, so we did," he said, without disclosing further details of the order.

The Beijing Olympic organising committee confirmed the episode with spokesman Sun Weide saying the decision was taken in the interests of providing the best possible show.

"A number of girls were on the short list for the show and Lin was the best actress while Yang had the best voice," he said. "So at the end of the day they decided to have both."

The ceremony directed by China's Oscar-nominated filmmaker Zhang Yimou and featuring more than 15,000 performers won high praise in China and overseas for its breadth, scope and flawless execution.

However criticism began to build after it emerged that another part of the opening ceremony had been faked.

Supposedly live pictures of fireworks depicting footprints moving from central Beijing's Tiananmen Square to the Olympic stadium in the north of the capital were actually partly computer-generated or pre-recorded for TV, organisers have admitted.

Wang Wei, vice president of the organising committee, Tuesday insisted the fireworks had actually exploded on the night and that most of the television images used were genuine.

"However, because of the poor visibility of the night some previously recorded foots may have been used," he said.

Xiao Qiang, the director of the China Internet project at the University of California at Berkeley and former dissident, said the two incidents illustrated the political nature of the Games for China.

"I do not think the Chinese state realises how unethical this is, they don't understand what kind of values they are reflecting," he said.

Earlier this year Olympic organisers preoccupied with the right image for the country were criticised for insisting that only tall, slim, young and attractive women could serve as medal award ceremony hostesses.

OPENING CEREMONY ORGANISERS ADMIT FAKING IT ON FIREWORKS, CHILD STAR

Posted 7 hours 6 minutes ago

Fireworks explode over the Bird's Nest stadium during the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics on August 8, 2008. (ABC News: Karen Barlow)

• Video: Chinese celebrate opening success (ABC News)
• Video: Opening ceremony dazzles crowd (ABC News)

Four days after the world was dazzled by the Beijing Opening Ceremony, details have emerged that organisers were forced to fake some key moments in the three-hour spectacle.

Games organisers say that poor visibility on the night forced them to run animations of fireworks and they also admitted that the star child singer was actually only in the stadium because of her good looks.

The fireworks around the Bird's Nest stadium were real, the television footage of fireworks in other parts of Beijing was not.

It turns out some opening ceremony footage was produced before the Games as a back-up and the vice-president of the Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG), Wang Wei, says it was needed because of the city's chronic air pollution problem.

"Because of the poor visibility on the night some previously recorded footage may have been used," he said.

However Wang Wei says most of the fireworks seen by billions of people around the world did actually happen on the night.

Keeping up appearances

The little girl who starred at the Olympic opening ceremony was miming and only put on stage because the real singer was not considered attractive enough, the show's musical director said.

Pigtailed Lin Miaoke was selected to appear because of her cute appearance and had not sung a note, Chen Qigang, the general music designer of the ceremony, said in an interview with a state broadcaster.

Photographs of Lin in a bright red party dress were published in newspapers and websites all over the world and the official China Daily hailed her as a rising star on Tuesday.

But Chen said the girl whose voice was actually heard by the 91,000 capacity crowd at the main Olympic stadium was in fact seven-year-old Yang Peiyi, who has a chubby face and uneven teeth.

"The reason why little Yang was not chosen to appear was because we wanted to project the right image, we were thinking about what was best for the nation," Chen said in the interview that appeared briefly on the popular news website Sina.com on Tuesday before it was wiped from the Internet.

Lin was seen to perform the patriotic song "Ode to the Motherland" as China's national flag was carried into the stadium, a key moment in the three hour opening ceremony.

"The reason was for the national interest. The child on camera should be flawless in image, internal feelings, and expression," he said.

"Lin Miaoke is excellent in those aspects. But in terms of voice, Yang Peiyi is perfect, each member of our team agreed," he said.

- ABC/AFP