Filmmaker Choephel tells tale of Tibet

October 30, 2009

Filmmaker Choephel tells tale of Tibet

By Sally Pollak, Free Press Staff Writer

Ngawang Choephel was 2 when he and his mother fled Tibet, the place of his birth, after its occupation and control by the Chinese. The two traveled by yak across the Himalayas to India, where they lived in a Tibetan refugee camp in southern India.

Years later, in 1995, Choephel returned to Tibet with a video camera, seeking to learn about and record Tibetan folk music. Choephel’s plans to make a documentary about the music of Tibet were disrupted when he was arrested and imprisoned by Chinese authorities.

He remained in jail for nearly 6 1/2years. On his release, Choephel was clear and determined about what he intended to do: finish his film.

The movie, “Tibet in Song,” will be screened at 3 p.m. today at Palace 9 Cinemas in South Burlington. The documentary is showing as part of the Vermont International Film Festival.

Choephel, its writer, director and producer, was in Burlington earlier this week, for Wednesday night’s screening of “Tibet in Song.” The filmmaker and musician, who lives in Queens, N.Y., said he was able to keep his idea alive during imprisonment by believing in his story.

“It’s basically a human passion toward art, and art is something that is very emotional,” Choephel said. “Especially music.

“We have achieved a lot of great things in the world,” he said, talking by phone Thursday morning from the airport. “But music is something that expresses human emotions in a way that has the power to change the minds of the most intelligent people in the world.”

Choephel’s first visit to the United States was in 1993-94, when he was a Fulbright scholar at Middlebury College. At Middlebury, he studied music and English — and came to believe that there is no place better than Vermont to first experience the United States, Choephel said.

“Vermont is the best place to start,” he said. “There’s a culture here, and people care about each other. It’s a good representation of not just people in America, but your roots from Europe.”

After leaving Middlebury, Choephel returned to India before traveling the next year to Tibet, the country of his roots.

Choephel, 44, is a musician who plays a six-stringed instrument called dramnyen. He visited Tibet to listen to music, interview folk musicians, film people and record their songs.

“They sang for me on the spot, with the camera rolling. They had no time to prepare,” Choephel says in a film synopsis on the movie’s Web site (www.tibetinsong.com). “I felt like there was no camera between us — it was very natural. They really understood what my concern was and what I was hoping to capture.”

He had been in Tibet for two months before he was arrested. About half his footage had been sent home to India with a friend; another 16 hours of footage and his notes were confiscated by authorities, according to his Web site.

Choephel’s imprisonment gained international attention. Those speaking out against his confinement and seeking his release included musicians and politicians — including Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.

His mother was also instrumental in the effort. In January 2002, he was freed. Choephel’s time in prison, “definitely intensified my passion to tell the story,” he said. “It’s how much you believe in the story, and your passion, that’s what kept me going.”

“Tibet in Song” won a special jury prize for a documentary at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, and best documentary feature at the recent Calgary International Film Festival.

“I have learned so much in the past six, seven years, working on this film,” Choephel said.

He is working these days on the film’s distribution, hoping to get it shown in theaters, on television and at film festivals.

Movies, like music, have always been an important part of his life. He grew up watching Bollywood films, often the first kid in line the day big pictures came out.

“Those were our modern identity,” he said. “I used to like them a lot.”

“Tibet in Song” is Choephel’s look — through his twin passions of music and film — at the cultural and historical identity of his ancestral home and people.

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