When Tibetan waiter Shavo Dorjee watched a 27-year-old exile self-immolate, he had no idea that years later he would play him on the big screen
A 23-year-old college student was standing just a few yards away when a Tibetan exile, Jamphel Yeshi, doused himself with petrol during a protest at the Jantar Mantar observatory, near India's parliament in 2012. Yeshi, along with a hundred others, was protesting the visit by then-Chinese President Ju Hintao, when he decided mere rallying was not enough. Little did the 23-year-old Shavo Dorjee know that nearly six years later, he would play Yeshi's character in an independent, global film, portraying the iconic immolation, which triggered rampant protests across India.
Tibet and its people have been struggling with their country's legal status for decades. While the People's Republic of China (PRC) claims that Tibet is an integral part of China, the Tibetan government-in-exile maintains that Tibet is an independent state under unlawful occupation. Thousands of Tibetans have fled and taken refuge in India, away from China's brutal repressive measures against the people.