OTHERS BEFORE SELF is an hour-long portrait of Tibetan Children's Village, a boarding school started by the Dalai Lama for refugees from Tibet and their children. Through candid interviews and stunning footage of the young people and the community they share with their teachers and elders, the film engages with the Tibetan religious beliefs and traditions taught at the school and how they inform the students' worldview. The film spotlights how the students are keeping Tibetan culture alive after China’s devastating occupation of their country drove the Dalai Lama and many others into exile.
The film's director will be joined at the Q and A by Ms. Tencho Gyatso, a graduate of TCV and Interim Vice-President of International Campaign for Tibet. Gyatso praised the film for “immersing viewers in the unique and wonderful experience of growing up in the Tibetan Children’s Village. These schools are a wellspring that has kept our culture flourishing in exile for over 60 years. Although Tibetan children have to live with the tragedy of China’s brutal oppression in our homeland, TCV has raised one generation after another to embody the values that make Tibet a treasure for the whole world: wisdom, compassion—and putting others before self. By watching this beautiful documentary, you are sure to come away with gratitude and joy in your heart.”
A professor at Triton College, McClellan says, "This new film is something of a follow-up to my last documentary, LITTLE WOUND’S WARRIORS, that profiled young people on a Native reservation in South Dakota. I'm really interested in and trying to raise awareness about how kids understand and engage with their larger political and social context, particularly kids in traumatized populations. Both films try to engage with what happens to communities when the invaders, the USA or China in these cases, forbid the practice of the more vulnerable cultures' traditions. How does that impact the people and particularly children? Both films are about young people trying to keep their cultures alive in reaction to colonization and genocide."
McClellan adds, “It was my great pleasure to meet and get to document these wise people and beautiful, ancient culture. I hope the film will be seen by the participants and Tibetan community as something valuable and truthful. I was so impressed by the perseverance that I saw in both the young and old. Tibetans in China continue to be imprisoned and tortured and killed but the refugee community in India and beyond remains largely committed to teaching nonviolence and compassion - others before self." contact: Seth McClellan 708.724.3832 mcclellan.seth@gmail.com https://www.facebook.com/othersbeforeselfmovie www.thorncreekproductions.com https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koDyFnR8XQ8 https://savetibet.org/ review and short summary: "Due to the outreach efforts and charisma of His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet, the world has learned of and largely sympathized with the plight of the Tibetan people, whose land was seized some 60 years ago by the People’s Republic of China. The Chinese outlawed the country’s language, culture, and religion, and continue to oppress, torture, and kill Tibetans. To keep Tibetan traditions and hope alive, the Dalai Lama established the Tibetan Children’s Village (TCV) in the Himalayan mountains of India. OTHERS BEFORE SELF offers a brief, but complete portrait of the TCV, where teachers act like parents for the children separated from their families in Tibet and the children learn English and take classes in Tibetan language and culture. Most importantly, the teachings of Tibetan Buddhism—compassion, love, others before self— are passed on to them in the hope that they will eschew bitterness as they grow up and move out into the world. The residents of the TCV, even some of the youngest, speak for themselves and their feelings about the Chinese government (not the people), which they see as greedy and selfish. They give voice to their hope, or lack thereof, of being able to see Tibet, most for the first time, and reclaim it for the Tibetan people. In showing a group of children working together and developing their minds and hearts, McClellan has painted an effective portrait of how we could create a more peaceful, pleasant world community. The cynic/realist in me thinks we’re doomed, but the dreamer in me was inspired by this moving, beautifully filmed documentary." [Marilyn Ferdinand - CINEFILE]
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