A 26-minute documentary on Tibetan immolations

Dharamsala, Dec 12: The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) is releasing a short documentary film on Tibetan immolations that have captured the conscience of a vast majority of people around the world. TCHRD documentary looks at the lives of some of the Tibetans who gave up their lives for Tibet's freedom through the eyes of their relatives in exile in India.

"The 26-minute long documentary, titled Beyond the Numbers: A Human Perspective on Tibet's Self-immolation, attempts to restore the full humanity of an immolator beyond the mere number he may get reduced to," said Tsering Tsomo, Executive Director, Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Dharamsala on Tuesday, Dec 11.

She said that since 2009 in Tibet, 95 Tibetans have burned their bodies to protest against increasing oppression under Chinese rule, calling for the return of their spiritual leader, His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet. Tsomo said,"The documentary film tells the stories of how the immolators lived, dreamed and died. It will also narrate that beyond the numbers, they have names, they had lives and they had dreams. It also tells the stories of the ongoing struggle of those who are left behind."

TCHRD is indebted to Katie Lin, a Canadian multimedia journalist who helped produce and edit this short documentary. The documentary will also be released at an event in Duncan in British Columbia (Canada) on Dec 13. It shall also be screened near the Main Temple in Mcleod Ganj.

OneIndia News