Robb Bradstock was born in England and moved to Ireland in the 1970’s where he set up a craft pottery business. In the early 1980’s he travelled extensively in South America particularly in the Andes where he became a keen photographer and kept detailed journals of his travels.
A year and a half later, after meeting his wife in the USA, he returned to Ireland and re-established the pottery. In 1989 they made their first journey to the Indian Himalayas where they became involved in an unofficial mountain rescue that lasted several months. It was during this time that they had their first contact with the Dalai Lama and Tibetans living in exile as well an Indian semi-nomadic group called the Gaddhis.
They returned to India in 1991 when they trekked through Ladakh and Zanskar, a Buddhist region of the Himalayas. Later they crossed India by train to visit Darjeeling and Sikkim. In 1994 Robb and Meredith made their most adventurous journey so far. They trekked without guides or horses from Leh in Ladakh to Shimla in the foothills of the Himalayas. This trip took almost ten weeks and they walked about 500 miles, crossing many high passes. On this trek they passed through the region of Spiti and Kinnaur that had only recently been opened to foreigners.
As Robb and Meredith spent long periods of time in the Indian Himalayas they became very familiar with the ways of life of several different cultures that often lived side by side. Over the years they witnessed the increasing influences of the outside world and became concerned about what was happening to these indigenous cultures. In late 1994 Robb made a radio documentary for Irish radio that highlighted the plight of the Tibetans. Ten years later he returned to make a feature length documentary film on the same subject, after seeing what he felt was a deterioration in exile life.
To facilitate this Robb set up a production company called SIX DEGREE PRODUCTIONS that aims primarily to make films that will help raise awareness of the issues facing ethnic cultures world-wide. These films aim to inform and enlighten as well as inspire action that will bring about positive and beneficial changes to ensure the survival of the world’s rich cultural diversity.
Shooting of the current film began in the Spring of 2004 in Dharamsala in Northern India and lasted six weeks. More footage was shot in Glasgow, Scotland during the Dalai Lama’s visit in June that year and another period of location work took place in the Autumn. Due to a lack of funding the editing process took a considerable amount of time. Robb had to learn a complex editing program while still working in the pottery business. He had several friends in the film world who advised him and gave editorial help. Eventually the film was completed in mid 2007.
In 2007 Robb and his son Arran travelled to Derry in Northern Ireland to meet the Dalai Lama and present him with a copy of the film 'The Tibetans.A Life in Exile.'
