Dhondup Wangchen is a Tibetan filmmaker. As a self-taught filmmaker, he secretly shot Leaving Fear Behind in response to the Beijing 2008 Olympics and the International Olympic Committee’s failed promise of improved rights for the Tibetan people. The documentary was cut together from footage smuggled out of Tibet and uncovered life in Tibet under Chinese communist rule. Dhondup was subsequently imprisoned for six years during the 2008 Tibetan uprising for subversion of state power. After his release from prison in 2014, he was placed under heavy surveillance, only escaping to the US and being granted asylum in December 2017, then testifying in front of the US Congressional Executive Commission on China.
In this interview, Dhondup Wangchen was aided by Norbu, who served as a translator. As the interview progressed, Norbu assisted in translating Dhondup Wangchen’s views, thoughts, and insights into English.
CJLPA: Welcome, Dhondup Wangchen. I would like to begin by thanking you both for taking the time to come and interview with The Cambridge Journal of Law, Politics, and Art to discuss your work as a human rights activist. I want to begin by asking you about your life in Tibet and how it was growing up. What was life like for you and your family up until the IOC’s failed promise? Was the Chinese influence gradual or something that was consistently felt?
Dhondup Wangchen: I grew up in the very rural Eastern side of Tibet. I grew up in an extreme sort of poverty because I grew up in a very big family of 10 siblings. So, we always had severe financial hardship. Because of those financial hardships, I was not able to go to school. The trace of Chinese suppression is not something that just happened abruptly in 2008 during the Olympics—it has been happening for decades. My great-grandfather and great-grandmother were subjugated by Chinese oppression during the Cultural Revolution, the former being arrested.