TANAKA Kunihiko, a video journalist and alumnus of the University of Kansas graduate school of journalism in the US, has extensive experience in television production for Japanese and American television.  He is very familiar with Tibet and the Himalayan regions.

*TANAKA’s detailed profile

Untold Story behind the Production

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Since he became interested in the Tibet issue in 1987, TANAKA Kunihiko, its film director, has reviewed many documentaries and programs about Tibetan refugees, and found they tend to portray the refugees as 1) poor people escaping from Tibet because of the Chinese oppression, and/or 2) naive and religious people following the Dalai Lama.  The majority of the works on

the Tibet issue, moreover, focus exclusively on the Dalai Lama’s activities, and reinforce audiences’ “Shangri-la” stereotypes about Tibet and its refugees. So, this first documentary of the Tibetan

Refugee Documentary Project intentionally and specifically focuses on the challenges faced by Tibetan refugees especially the youths, describing their “true faces”.  After finishing a gra-duate degree in journalism and mass communication in the US, Tanaka went back to Japan and started to ask several media (TV) production companies to work with his project.  However, they declined to support it. The main reason was really obvious. The Tibet issue has been taboo in the Japanese mass media.

One boss of a company said, “We can’t touch the Tibet issue.” Companies fear that the Chinese government’s reaction would cause trouble for their business. Yet Tanaka never thought about giving up. The important year 1999 was drawing near: the 40th anniversary of the Tibetan Uprising; 50th anniversary of China’s invasion and annexation of Tibet; 10th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown; and the 10th anniversary of the Nobel Peace Prize for the Dalai Lama.  Someone had to record what ordinary Tibetans would say and do in that important year.  Camerawork for the first documentary began in February 1999, and proceeded very well as Tanaka established excellent rapport with Tibetan refugees he met.  Before the start of the peace march on the anniversary of Tibetan Uprising Day, the Dalai Lama made a speech in Dharamsala.  Of the

many journalists who covered the speech, only Tanaka, with his camera, accompanied the peace march it launched.  The PM was truly meaningful because it was the first big march which ordinary Tibetan refugees, who used to mainly follow the Dalai Lama and the exile government, took the initiative in organizing.  Tanaka also secured an exclusive, one-hour interview in Dharamsala with the Dalai Lama, excerpts of which are in the documentary.  That interview with the “Living Buddha” took place on Buddha Jayanti, Buddha’s birthday.   Some Tibetan Buddhist must say, “It’s your karma!”.

About the Director