Dharamsala, Feb. 9 – A documentary film on Tibet music, Tibet in Song had won the Special Jury Award at the Sundance Film Festival which was held from Jan 15 to 25, 2009.
The film made by a Tibetan musician Ngawang Choephel who spent 6 years in Chinese prison is as much about the documented (Tibetan music)as it is about the documentarian (Ngawang Choephel).
Ngawang had gone to Tibet to document Tibetan folk music and got was arrested. He was sentenced to 18 years imprisonment but was released in January 2002 on medical parole.
“When you see and hear the performances of Tibetan folk music you feel the warmth of the Tibetan people,” he says, “These songs have been passed down from generation to generation. They are a historical record of the Tibetan experience.”
Ngawang became the first Tibetan to win an award at Sundance.
