Web documentary TIBET Part I - COMING SOON

ལྷ་ས་

PART 1: TRAIN TO LHASA

Midnight in Lhasa. Filmmakers Derek Smith
and Joe Briscoe playing with the locals.

At 3,490 metres above sea level, Lhasa (拉萨) sits at the top of the world.

Having given our 'guides' the slip at the earliest possible moment, we immediately ventured out into the city to experience a Lhasa which is currently 'off the record' to foreign tourists.

The people we spent the night talking to, both Chinese and Tibetan were friendly and warm.

To see more of Lhasa and the rest of Tibet, watch part one of the new web documentary 'TIBET', coming soon to untiltheybecomeconscious.

EXCLUSIVE

IN THE coming days, untiltheybecomeconscious will be posting a short series of travel documentaries, filmed in Tibet.

The footage was filmed early in 2009, and documents an entirely overland journey which myself and my good friend made from Shanghai, in China to Delhi, in India.

The films include extensive footage of the incredible train journey across the plateau - the highest train line in the world - along with scenes inside the capital Lhasa, secretly filmed footage from within the infamous Sera monastery, sequences where we travel through mountain passes of over 5,000 metres above sea level, and of course coverage of our time crossing the Himalayas to Mount. Everest.

It is my intention that the majority of people who have never been to Tibet, and will likely never have the chance, will be able to see a glimpse of what life there is like, and will hopefully get a better idea of the situation in the area.

Shot entirely on a handheld video camera, the footage is raw, and the fact that it was filmed as part of an actual journey should underline it's authenticity. This is what it is actually like to travel through Tibet.

I have included a brief preview below of a scene from the third episode:



Please use the comment function below to provide feedback or ask questions.
J

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

"I wanted to say something"

It is not often that one hears the honest words “thank you” spoken to a conservative at a ‘stop the cuts’ rally…

But then this was an interesting day.



The police closed traffic around the town to allow the protesters to march
Photo by JOE BRISCOE

THE HIGHEST estimates reckon a thousand and the local press said 500, but however many people really took to the streets of Newport – county town of the Isle of Wight – it was clear that people were nearing the end of their patience.

For me though, the most fascinating story of the day, wasn’t the drums beating steadily at the front of the surge of people, nor was it the way in which the protesters calmly but defiantly overran the town, forcing police to divert traffic every which way.

No, for me the most interesting moment of this smile-raising display of democracy and the right to congregate came ironically at the very end, as it was all winding up. A number of UNISON representatives had been giving rousing speeches, shouting things like “Egypt yesterday, Isle of Wight tomorrow!”, “this is people power in action” and “contact your councillor and give them hell!”, and the requisite booing of David Pugh, head of the IW council, had been conducted as if he were a pantomime villain.

Footage by Joe Briscoe

And when the final cheer had gone up, the crowd, which has seconds before been baying for blood, slowly began to saunter off home to a cup of tea and an evening of Dancing on Ice. How British.

But then the microphone clicked back on.

“I, I wanted to say something” came the voice, trembling. And the exodus halted.

What followed was an emotional speech from a visably affected man - an ex-conservative politician who had heard the march from nearby and felt the need to speak out against the cuts and his party.

Granted the heartfelt speech went to pieces early on, and a polite smattering of applause signified his cue to hand the mic back prematurely, but the point had been made.



"Andrew Turner welcomes you to the 1980s"
Photo by JOE BRISCOE

After the crowds had once again started to leave, I cornered him and asked him why - as a conservative -he had come down in the first place.

“I didn’t realise it was going to kick off but I heard it. Basically, I’m on the other side" he told me.



"I know the game. I’ve played the game of politics. You’re on a hiding to nowhere. The only way you’re going to change it is to get these people out at the ballot box. I’m a conservative but we need a change of direction."

At that moment, a man from the crowd spotted the still shaking man, came over, and thanked him. "It means a hell of a lot” he said.

I asked him why out of all the people standing around he felt compelled to speak out.

“There’s too much apathy. The world has changed. I’m fed up". He replied.
"I’ve been there. I’m conservative and I supported Mrs Thatcher. Right?”



"But I’ve just about had enough of it. For a start the IOW is the most poverty stricken blackspot. And what’s being done to upgrade it and give life some sort of status or quality? Absolutely nothing."

But while the turnout was surprisingly good, I suggested that surely there are many more people who didn't come down to oppose the cuts. What would he say to them?



Library cuts sparked the outrage on the Isle of Wight
Photo by JOE BRISCOE



“It’s not for me to say why people should come out. But here is so much apathy - so much apathy in this country. I’m not promoting revolution or anything but I’m just saying that there has to be a sense of what’s reasonable.” He looks up as we are again interrupted, this time by a young lady.

“I just wanted to say thank you – that you did that” she smiles.

He looks back at me: “I know an awful lot about the running of the council.”

I push: "But you’ve never felt the need to speak out like that before?

“Never. Well I can see deterioration in what I would call moral principles. I just couldn’t help it, I just heard what was going on and…” he trails off.

And while it is always reassuring to see hundreds of people take to the streets in an attempt to make things right, it is equally as important sometimes to see just one person, who for whatever reason feels the necessity to stand up, take the microphone and speak their heart.

They say cut back, we say fight back, indeed.

Footage by Joe Briscoe

Footage by Joe Briscoe