Tibet represented at the Isle of Wight Film Festival 2012

Train to Lhasa - Part One of a series of short Tibet travel documentaries currently hosted on the Free Tibet website, - was chosen to open the International Short Film strand at the Isle of Wight Film Festival this year. The film, shot and produced by Island filmmaker Joe Briscoe and his American travelling partner, Derek Smith, details the spectacular journey of a tourist across China on the recently completed train line. The railway, the highest in the world, funnels Chinese workers directly into the ancient Tibetan capital of Lhasa - a method which Beijing uses to justify their occupation of Tibet. Once the filmmakers arrive in Lhasa, they use secretly filmed footage to show the conditions under which people live their daily lives - with armed soldiers patrolling the streets, and sniper rifles constantly aimed at them from surrounding rooftops.

Director Joe Briscoe (2nd from right) outside the Sacred Cinema, Ventnor.

Local media, including the County Press and hyperlocal site Ventnor Blog, attended the screening which took place during the Ventnor Fringe Festival.

--------------------------------

County Press, Friday 24th August 2012, "Weekender" pg.20

--------------------------------

Film tackles Tibet controversy

Review from the County Press website

By Harry Tiley

Friday, August 17, 2012

ISLE OF WIGHT FILM FESTIVAL
QUITE apart from tackling a controversial subject matter — the Chinese presence in the Tibetan city of Lhasa and the effects of the 2008 Tibet riots — this documentary brings much more to the table than textbook controversy.

Filmed in short, illuminating bursts, Derek Smith and Isle of Wight filmmaker Joe Briscoe, narrate and present a world plagued by poverty and oppression in their film Train to Lhasa.

The audience gains a real sense of the pervasive nature of the Chinese occupation of Lhasa and through a haunting soundtrack and cleverly cut handheld footage, the film captures the intense and ever-present fear that hangs over the city and its native culture.

This inspired short — shown as part of this year’s Isle of Wight Film Festival — provided shocks and chills on both a political and emotional level for its audience and is not to be missed.

Horrible histories...

A Doctor Hu Jintao doesn't like....

As an unashamed fan of Doctor Who, I can talk for hours about the hundred and one reasons why the show is so great.

And I'm not just any fan, I'm an old-school fan - one who used to watch Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy shout at Davros from, literally, behind the sofa. I caught up with Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker on the repeats and never really let the show die, even when the BBC did.
Now it seems, that Doctor Who, along with other 'time travel' shows, are being banned by the Beijing government. Quite why, is a mystery to me. See if you can understand it.


The NY Times reports here.


Now the reasons I give for thinking so highly of the televised exploits of an alien time-traveller range from good-old nostalgia to the fact that I find it genuinely entertaining, especially now that 'the Grand Moff' is running the show.
But there is far more to it than that.

Students in China fell in love with the Doctor,
as children around the world have.
Photo by: JOE BRISCOE

At it's heart, Doctor Who is an ongoing myth, an epic adventure and a cautionary fairytale. It extolls countless morals and virtues on it's audiences, both kids and adults, and repeatedly tumpets the important things in life, always highlighting how the simple deeds of people here on Earth are just as important and fascinating as the wonders of the far-off worlds that the Time Lord takes his companions to.


Whether it's discovering 'indomitable' humans, struggling for survival in the year one-hundred trillion, claiming that while Earth is most certainly not his home, he has "put a lot of work into it" or actually being banished to our little planet and exiled here during the 1970s, the Doctor is always quick to champion the human race.

The Master controls the Central Military Comission
in Beijing

The show encourages children to question events and to be both curious and wary about everything - be it the perils of modern technology (Cybus ear-pods, ATMOS devices, or Adipose fat-fighting pills) or 'the stranger' in the street. It also goes to great lengths to show how greatness can be found in everyone, whether it's Rose Tyler, who had her eyes opened to a galaxy of possibilities, Martha Jones who saved the world by travelling around and telling stories, or Donna Noble, who regardless of being a 'temp from Chiswick', pulled all of reality back from the brink at the hands of Davros.

The show began as an educational vehicle for children - where the latest advances in technology were woven into the fictional stories in an attempt to get kids interested in science. It was a history lesson too - back in the 1960s William Hartnell encountered pre-historic man, the Romans and even Marco Polo, all the while maintaining the audiences attention with wonderful adventures.

The world's largest standing army -
they all look the same and are controlled by a lunatic.
No change there then.

And it is for all these reasons that when looking for something new, exciting and beneficial to show my Chinese students in class for a treat, I would always go immediately to my Doctor Who DVDs.



In China illegal versions of the show can be found in most DVD shops, and Blink always turned out to be the undoubted favourite, although Tooth & Claw (where the Doctor bumps into Queen Victoria just as a werewolf in unleashed upon the household) came a close second.

In the opening of the latter episode, the Doctor materialises the TARDIS exclaiming:
"1979! Hell of a year! China invades Vietnam. The Muppet Movie. Love that film. Margaret Thatcher. Ugh. Skylab fell to Earth with a little help from me. Nearly took off my thumb!"

 Now, most of us would chuckle at the Thatcher jibe and get on with the story. But not my students. No, they never heard it. Nor did they hear anything about the Muppets either. They never got that far. I looked around, having half expected this.
They were whispering to themselves, with puzzled expressions and disbelief etched into their brows.
China invades Vietnam?
This was the first they new about it. Doctor Who had taught them more truth about the history of their country within the first 15 seconds, than any of their 'history' lessons had throughout their school lives. The doctor triumphs again.

The continued references to China have always made me laugh... be it the gorgeous 'China Planet' in Turn Left, or the hilarious shots of The Master, having transplanted his DNA into the whole of the human race, lining Tiananmen square and preparing to go to war with the Doctor.

Whether that is a 'they all look the same anyway' joke, or just a genuine comment on the colossal size of the Chinese army I'm still not sure. It made me laugh regardless.

For the Chinese government to ban shows like this, which encourage values and wonderful notions of travel, discovery and amazement is a crime - especially as it's a show that captured the imagination of the thousands, yes thousands of Chinese youngsters I have introduced it to over the years.

But if having the doctor tamper with history scares the Chinese government, then so be it. Afterall, tampering with history is something they would know all about...


Further reading: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2011/apr/15/doctor-who-china-political-order

艾未未 - Calling across the Thames

STROLLING along the banks of the Thames last week on one of my rare trips to the capital, I was caught somewhat off guard.

I know my way around the city centre fairly well these days and don't tend to get lost so easily, but for just a second I was thrown a little off. The sight of a Chinese dissident's name, calling to me across the Thames was the last thing I expected to see, and it caused me to perform a rather comical double take.

Even though he is one of the most respected artists in the world, the name Ai Weiwei means little to most in England. But in recent months, he has arguably found his largest British audience with his sunflower seed exhibition, currently showing at the Tate Modern until May 2, 2011.

Weiwei is that most rare of things - a Chinese dissident who has somehow retained the freedom to travel in and out of China, whilst also speaking his mind. Although the Beijing 'authorities' have constantly tried to silence him, by closing down his popular blog, and even attacking him, Weiwei continues to be vocal about his disapproal of the situation in China.

London's Tate Modern: Ai Weiwei's exhibition runs until May 2, 2011
Photo by: JOE BRISCOE

Now finally, with this ceramic sunflower seed display in London, people are beginning to associate his name with his art.

Previously, whenever I mentioned his name to people in England, I was invariably met with blank stares until that is, I explain that this is the man who designed the iconic Bird's Nest stadium for the 2008 genocide Olympics in Beijing.

Cast your mind back a few months to that BBC documentary with Alan Yentob and that Chinese guy? Yes, that's him too.

WHO IS AI WEI WEI?

Born in 1957, Weiwei is the son of Chinese poet Ai Qing, who was denounced during the Cultural Revolution and send to a labour camp when Weiwei was just 1 year old.

When he was 20, Weiwei enrolled at the Beijing Film Academy, and studied alongside superstar Chinese directors Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou - but unlike these artists of the silver screen, Weiwei decided to vary his creativity somewhat. From 1981 to 1993 he lived in New York, creating conceptual art, until he was forced to return to China when his father became ill.



Beijing: Weiwei has publicly distanced himself from him most
prominent creation - the Bird's Nest Olympic Stadium in Beijing.
Photo by: JOE BRISCOE



His controversial art, along with his fearlessness to speak his mind has propelled him into an unenviable position. In 2009 he was savegely beaten by Chinese police, after trying to testify for Tan Zuoren - a fellow outspoken champion of human rights. 

The pair had attempted to compile a complete list of those who died in the catastrophic Sichuan earthquake in the hope that corruption in the local governments which led to the collapse of schools in the area would be fully revealed.

The beating caused Weiwei  to be admitted to a hospital in Munich were he underwent emergency brain surgery for a cerebral hemorrhage.

But last year, Weiwei was ranked 13 in ArtReview's guide to the 100 most powerful figures in contemporary art, and he quickly consolidated the position with his display at the Tate Modern.



London displays: A virtually unspoken name in China.

Photo by: JOE BRISCOE



THERE is very little chance of hearing his name mentioned in normal conversation in China, as even typing his name into the search engines immediately trips the great firewall, which censors it outright.

And so to see his name, bold as day, screaming out across the Thames was a pleasant moment indeed - and one which immediately reminded me of the massive chasm which still separates countries like England from China.

The air really is more fresh over here....

  



On the brink: China - the peacemaker?

It is becoming increasingly difficult to tell on which side of the DMZ China stands this time around.

In just a few hours, the American aircraft carrier the USS George Washington and its battle group is due to arrive in the Yellow Sea for four days of military exercises, and the North Korean news agency has threatened that if the ship arrives, "no-one can predict the ensuing consequences."

Kim Jong-il and Hu Jin-tao - leaders of North Korea and China

 

Days ago, China was urged to intervene to put North Korea and Kim Jong-il in their place, but top US military commander, Adm Mike Mullen, doubted Beijing's ability to do so. In an interview due to be broadcast later today, he says of the North Korean leader:"I'm not sure he is controllable."

This is not a notion that will have crossed most governments minds. It has always been assumed that North Korea would do virtually whatever the Chinese government 'suggested' - especially as China is really Kim Jong-il's only credible ally, and the source of the great majority of the North's trade.

Whether the disturbing lack of intervention on the part of the Chinese government in recent days is down to their unwillingness to get involved, or whether, as Mullen suggests, the North simply wouldn't listen anyway is open for debate.

It has been said that the North's attack on Yeonpyeong last week was an embarassment for China - as it highlighted how little influence it actually had over it's small but constantly agitated ally.

But China is the great puppet-master of Asia - holding the strings of countless neighbouring states, and more than able to crush the North Korean leadership, should it choose to.

Kim Jong-il is often portrayed as craving the worlds attention

 

However, the history of these two countries are somewhat entwined; lets not for a second forget how North Korea came to be.

It was China afterall, who in 1953 pushed UN forces back down to the 38th parallel, allowing Kim Il-sung's bizarre pocket of lunacy to take root in the years following the Korean War.
It was therefore, China who allowed this most troublesome of dictatorships to exist in the first place.

Image from the Chinese propaganda film 'The 38th Parallel'

While America and the UN have attempted to keep the North in line, with even weapons inspectors themselves becoming famous in the process, it was always assumed that if China had the will to, North Korea could be adequately controlled by them. There is now cause for the world to reconsider, and the next few days will certainly reveal a lot about the relationship between these two, untrustworthy and, to be honest, unpleasant states. 

                    Propaganda from the Korean War 1950 – 1953's armistice

Maj Gen You Nak-jun, the head of South Korea's marine corps, recently said: "We'll certainly repay North Korea a thousand-fold for killing and harming our marines.
"South Korean active-duty marines and all reserve forces will engrave this anger and hostility in our bones and we will make sure we take revenge on North Korea."

And who can blame them.
There will be further fighting between the two Koreas, possibly on a scale not seen since the last Korean war.

The only surprise will be on which side of the DMZ - the world's most heavily fortified area of land - the Peoples Republic of China allies itself.
And whichever side it is will reveal more about China and the way it wishes to be perceived by the world, than we've ever been able to see before...

Time to put your cards on the table, China.

On the BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11850821