The Search

/

Padma Tseten, 2009, 112 min. 

Director’s second feature film. Far removed from the western imagery of a dreamlike Shangri-La, mythologized by years of political seclusion a Tibetan film director travels from village to village across the country looking for an actor and an actress to star in his next film., He hears talk of people with the skills he needs, but they always seem to have just left or living somewhere else, as if he’s come too late. The Search is a road movie exploring a disappearing culture, taking the viewer straight into the heart of contemporary Tibet. This elegant film recently debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival and is the first ever to be shot entirely in Tibet in the Tibetan language by a local crew.

In Tibetan with English Subtitles

 Q&A with filmmaker and closing night reception to follow

Presented by The Modern Tibetan Studies Program at Columbia University, Maysles Cinema, Machik and the Kham Film Project

The Grassland

/

Padma Tseten, 2004, 22 min. 

Director’s first film.When an elderly woman’s yak goes missing, her husband is sure he knows who the culprits are, but the woman is more concerned about avoiding further suffering for the suspects. A careful and moving study of different views of resolving conflict in a nomadic community. Many are suspected, but the village head is shocked when his investigation reveals an unexpected thief.

In Tibetan with English Subtitles

The Girl Bumo Lhais

/

Rigdan Gyamtso, 2005, 25 min. 

Director’s first work. Lhari is a young bride sent to a country village to live with her in-laws, who increasingly use her as a servant and even lock her out at night, with even her husband not daring to intervene. Lhari decides to find her own, quintessentially Tibetan solution to her situation.

In Tibetan with English Subtitles

Panel discussion with both filmmakers and reception to follow

 

 

Prince of the Himalayas

/

Sherwood Hu, 2006, 108 min. 

Director’s first feature on Tibet. Setting Hamlet in a completely new context in early Tibetan history, Prince of the Himalayas is a visually ravishing historical epic that is richly suggestive of the enduring relevance of Shakespeare’s tragedy for the modern world and the most successful example so far of artistic cooperation between a Chinese director and Tibetan writers (Dorje Tsering Chenaktshang and Tashi Dawa).

In Tibetan with English Subtitles, opening night reception to follow