Films at 9th Tibet Film Festival 2018
Premiere at TFF
Wangdrak’s Rainboots
Lhapa Gyal | 2018 | Tibet | Drama | 90’ | Tibetan with English Subtitles
It is the rainy season in the mountains of Tibet. Good for the grain, bad for the little Wangdrak. He is the only pupil in the village school who has no rubber boots and regularly runs the risk of getting his feet wet on the way to school.
To make matters worse, he is exposed to the ridicule of the other children. He therefore desires nothing more than to have a pair of rubber boots. But his father has no money to buy him some, and other worries plague him anyway. The silent stubbornness with which Wangdrak pursues his goal determines the further course of the story.
The film, based on a novel by Tserang Dondrup, gives attention to the boy’s feelings in a lovingly attentive way and tells the story entirely from his point of view. Only towards the end does the horizon widen as Wangdrak begins to take an interest in the adult world. He becomes a witness of how their thinking and feeling are directed to the forces of nature.In order to escape the devastation of thunderstorms at harvest time, they leave they are completely devoted to religious ceremonies. The film tells in a quiet and aesthetic visual language a timeless story from rural Tibet, in which the who is embedded in its traditions and in which the modern civilization has barely left its mark.
The director Lhapal Gyal, 29 years old, from Amdo, Tibet, has his film education at the Beijing Film Academy. He has also attended Tharlo, a film by the well-known filmmaker Pema Tseden, as executive director of the Director was involved. Wangdrak’s Rain Boots is his first feature film and had its premiere at the Berlinale 2018.
Blackboard
Yonden | 2018 | Tibet | 27’ | Tibetan, with English and Chinese Subtitles
Tenpa is a young teacher in a primary school. Although he is only about has twenty students, he must not only face the fact that he does not have a classroom and no blackboard, but also still has a beautiful young woman is persecuted in his dreams.
Yonden is a young Tibetan film director from Ngaba, in the eastern part of the region. Amdo. He studied at the Northwest University for Nationalities in Lanzhou. He studied at the Northwest University for Nationalities in Lanzhou Tibetan literature in the main subject. He is the editor of various journals – the have appeared on many Tibetan social media – and books. With the Short film “Blackboard” he has already realized his second film project.
Lhasa Blues
Shenpenn Khymsar | 2018 | USA | 26’ | Tibetan with English Subtitles
The story revolves around four Tibetan men, fleeing to the desert of Nevada, after they have robbed a Chinese bank in California. Hoping to have their dreams with their new Hoping to share their dreams with their new found riches, is the only way Chaos that unfolds, the result of envy, Greed and deception.
With “Lhasa” Blues we already show the third Film by Shenpenn Khymsar and all Appearances after that some more will follow.
The Cup
Kyentse Rinpoche | 1999 | India I 94’ | Drama | Tibetan with English Subtitles
It is the time of the Football World Cup France in 1998. A cheeky novice of a Buddhist monastery in northern India is the whole monk community with his football fever. Shortly before the final game the abbot forbids the monks to watch the game in the village. Now the boy’s cunning is in demand. With “The Cup”, the Bhutanese Lama Khyentse Norbu has succeeded in making an intelligent and charming film that shows that wisdom and worldliness can come together in a conciliatory way. A a colourful gem, which is full of the spiritual challenges of young people and the monks.
Barley Fields on the other side of the Mountain
Tian Tsering, Bhuyang (producer) | 2017 | India | 115’ | Tibetan with English Subtitles
Pema lives in a secluded village in Tibet and supports her family with field work and housework. When her father is imprisoned for political activities, her seemingly intact world gets out of balance for the first time. She finds comfort with the nun Choeden of the same age. She familiarizes Pema not only with her father’s political work, but also with the idea of a better life in India.
The film shows the immediate reality of life and the inner conflict of the 16-year-old protagonist. The camera (Jigmet Wangchuk) seldom moves until not at all, which gives the spectator an observant view and free space for own interpretation is permitted. The instrumentation consists exclusively of about amateur actors. Some of them, including the protagonist, have similar fates have been experienced. But it is also a political film, without any concrete to be political; history inevitably reminds of the true event of the 17-year-old nun Kelsang Namtso, who was born in 2006 during her He was shot dead by the Chinese police at the border after an attempted escape.
Tian Tsering, director and co-author, grew up in China, is studying at the London Film School Cinematography. During the shooting in Spiti Valley in weeks were completed, it took some time because of the expensive Preparations seven years, until his first feature film was finished. To the question whether he feared discrimination by the Chinese authorities, he replied that he didn’t care. He said that he had used the film for his family. made
My Son Tenzin
Tsultrim Dorjee, Tashi Wangchuk | 2017 | USA | 70’ | Tibetan with English Subtitles
The Tibetan monk Ragba lands in California – and thus in the strange world of the local Tibetan diaspora. He wants his son in Oakland Tenzin, whom he found many years ago. to the USA for training purposes. But first he meets another young Tenzin: the driver of the poisonous green “Yellow Cab”, who had sent him from the airport into the city. But at the address of the “real” Tenzin no one opens, and the phone remains mute. With some
Pathos seems to steer the touching story towards a foreseeable end. to – to take a surprising turn after all.
Instead, Ragba is accommodated by the taxi driver Tenzin, the search for the lost son becomes a common search. And this develops into the actual odyssey through the Tibetan community of California. Under and the two of them will be joined by two incessantly gossiping nannies – called the “Gossip Encyclopedia” – at first to another false Tenzin skilfully. At the same time more and more also the personal the problems of the taxi driver, of which the monk in paternal way assumes. With some pathos With some pathos, the touching story apparently steers up a foreseeable end to – and then still a surprising turn to Tashi Wangchuk, a former producer of the Tibetan Channel of Radio.
Tashi Wangchuk, a former producer of the Tibetan channel of radio “Voice of America”, has created “My Son Tenzin”, a straightforward film about central themes and concerns of the Tibetan Diaspora in the USA (and probably Switzerland as well).
Lhasa Khache
Kalsang Jigme | 2018 | India | Doc. | 16’ | Tibetan with English Subtitles
During the reign of the 5th Dalai Lama. all Muslims living in Tibet to Tibetan citizens in some parts of Tibet. In some parts of Tibet, the mosques and the free exercise of religion. was guaranteed. This ensured that the relationship between Tibetan Muslims and Tibetan Muslims and Buddhists better than she was before.
In this documentary, Tibetan Muslims from the Chinese invasion and also of the experiences in exile. The film shows a Community that has fallen into oblivion.
Born in Battle
Yangzom Brauen | 2015 | USA | 20’ | Drama | English
Born In Battle tells the story of a former child soldier. Oneka, 12 years old, has escaped the clutches of the rebel soldiers. In order to overcome his past, he creates himself a fantasy world, far away from his oppressive life circumstances. The life he is looking for disappears the more he tries to capture it. Born In Battle has won several awards at the Fribourg International Film Festival. Yangzom Brauen directed and wrote the script.
Category «Recovery»
Summer Pasture
Lynn True, Nelson Walker, Tsering Perlo | 2010 | Tibet/USA | Documentary | 85’ I Tibetan with English Subtitles
The documentary film “Summer Pasture” provides an intimate insight into the hard life of a young nomadic family by accompanying them throughout a summer. Locho and Yama live with their toddler as Yak Keepers, just as their ancestors have done for generations. In Chinese, the region is referred to as “the five highest” – representing the highest, coldest, poorest, largest and most remote area in Sichuan Province. In recent years, however, nomadic life has become increasingly difficult and many nomads are settling in cities. Soon Locho and Yama will have to decide whether to raise their daughter in the pastures or send her to school. A decision that will have a profound impact on their future lives. “Summer Pasture” is a production by Kham Film Project, an association of filmmakers.
Category «Perspectives»
Butter Lamp
Hu Wei | 2013 | Drama | 15’ | Tibet, Frankreich | Tibetan with English Subtitles
A young photographer and his assistant decide to take photos of Tibetan nomads and have prepared various background motifs for them. Traditionally dressed families appear in front of the “Disneyland”, the “Olympia Stadium” or the “Potala Palace”. It is not only the resulting family shots, but above all conversations during the shots that provide an insight into their lives. “Butter Lamp” was nominated for an Oscar for Best Short Film in 2014. The director Hu Wei, born 1983 in Beijing, studied at the Parisian film school La Femis.