TIBET: MURDER IN THE SNOW AIRS ON SBS TV, FEBRUARY 19, 8.30PM

Australian documentary remembers shocking Tibetan nun murder. 

The world was shocked when the Tibet nun, Kelsang Namtso, was killed when Chinese border police opened fire on a group of pilgrims as they fled Tibet over the infamous Nangpa Pass.  Nearly three years later and in the lead up to the 50th Anniversary of the Dalai Lama’s exile, SBS TV will air February 19 at 8.30pm, TIBET: Murder in the Snow – a new documentary which uses original climber footage, reenactments and interviews with witnesses and survivors to tell the story of young Tibetans who risk their lives each year to illegally cross the rugged Himalaya Mountains in an attempt to see their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, or attend school in India.

The shooting was witnessed by international mountain climbers, some of whom videotaped or photographed the events and also helped rescuesurvivors. The story broke around the world when American mountainguide, Luis Benitez, emailed his account of the shooting to a popularclimbing website, revealing for the first time the sanctioned murder ofTibetan refugees by Chinese border police. It changed all of theirlives forever.

It was October 2006, a few weeks after the savage attack whenProducer Sally Ingleton (2 Mums and a Dad, Welcome 2 My Deaf World)heard about an incident on the infamous 6000-metre Nangpa Pass. “I knewthat this was a really strong story because you’ve got the witnessesand you’ve got the survivors and you’ve got this footage which is areally remarkable expose of what is a much bigger story—the persecutionof the Tibetans by the Chinese authorities,” Ingleton says. “Iimmediately went to the net and read about it and looked at the footageon YouTube. It was amazing how this story just went around the world.”

After securing finance to develop a script, Ingleton teamed up withdirector Mark Gould (Moulin Rouge Girls), who had previously filmed inthe Himalaya and had a strong interest in the subject. The pair set towork tracing key participants in the drama—the Tibetan refugees whosurvived the attack, the climbers who witnessed it, the climbingcompanies that operate in the region and the shadowy illegal guides whoorchestrate refugee crossings.

Mark Gould flew to India in August 2007 on a preliminary researchtrip, filming interviews with several survivors, while Sally Ingletontraced the climbers, many of whom were reluctant to speak because theydidn’t want to jeopardise their business, which relies on Chineseaccess to the mountain.

Knowing that the key people were, Sergiu Matei who had filmed theyoung nun being shot and Luis Benitez, who had emailed his story out,sending a huge ripple through the climbing community. Both men hadengaged an agent in the United States and were negotiating a possibledeal with Hollywood for a feature film and were initially uncertainabout participating. However persistence eventually paid off and MarkGould set off with cameraman Jeff Malouf in April 2008 on a five-weekfilming trip taking in Nepal, India, Slovakia, Romania, Denmark and theUS.

www.tibetmurderinthesnow.com 

Please tell your friends and family to watch this documentary as it has unprecedented footage of one of many murders that continue to occur inside Tibet today.