A Mother's Son

A Mother’s Son tells the heart-rending tale of 16-year old Dorjee Tsering who sets himself on fire as his way of trying to get the world to focus on the terrible situation in Tibet. The controversial tactic of self-immolation is sensitively handled in the film, which includes interviews with Dorjee’s relatives and friends and statements from the Karmapa and the Sikyong (Prime Minister of the Tibetan government in exile) Lobsang Sangay.

Norman Baker (President of Tibet Society) says of the film, “Self-immolations are a controversial tactic, not least with Tibetans themselves but Nawang handles the topic with sensitivity and fine judgement. The use of interviews with family members, and indeed footage of Dorjee himself, turn the abstract into the real and we the audience are implicitly brought into the story and the desperation and moral dilemmas thrown up. This is a powerful film and well worth a watch.”