Tibetan Cinema’s Homecoming: The Dharamsala edition of TFF 2022
Gokul KS
Tibet Film Festival (TFF) returned to Dharamsala for the first time in three years following a pandemic-induced hiatus. The transnational film event – also held in Zurich, Berlin and London – offers a space for young Tibetan filmmakers living in exile to showcase their talent by participating in the Short Film Competition. For film enthusiasts, the festival organisers curate Tibetan films made in Tibet and exile, an opportunity not to miss as these films are not often available online for streaming.
The Dharamsala edition of TFF is Tibetan cinema’s homecoming to the exile capital of the Tibetan community. For many filmmakers, this is an opportunity to show their work in a venue where the audience is predominantly fellow Tibetan friends, extended family members and the larger community. The artists and technicians behind many of the films screened at the festival live outside India, mainly in North America and Europe. For them, the Dharamsala edition is a platform to experience their work of art together with the community. The social spaces that evolve from TFF are microcosms of exile experience and its struggle and play a continuing part in nurturing its visual culture.
The festival opened on a poignant note with debutant Dhondup Tsering’s Ama Khando, articulating the need to shift the lens to personal stories of diverse exile experiences of Tibetans living on the margins. In an interview with Tibetscapes, Dhondup Tsering, a Tibetan filmmaker from Mustang based in Kathmandu, shared how excited and happy he was when he heard Ama Khando got selected for the Dharamsala International Film Festival (DIFF) back in 2020. Even though an in-person premiere couldn’t happen due to the pandemic, Dhondup finally got to screen his film in Dharamsala this year, a place close to his heart.
Geleck Palsang’s documentary Fathima the Oracle and the shorts screened under the ‘Film Snacks’ section – including Sonam Tseten’s Settlement and Pema, Kunsang Kyriong’s Yarlung, Tenzin Choedon’s The Quiet Solace of Sunset, and Tsering Wangmo’s Conversations with My Mother underline the vocal shift in the narrative content of contemporary Tibetan cinema. A notable aspect apparent on the formalistic side was the adoption of challenging visual storytelling methods and techniques within the financial and production constraints. Tschuedock, directed by Tenzin Yangdon Nesar, which won both the Audience and Jury Prizes in the prestigious Short Film Competition category, is an excellent example representing this welcome change.
Stories from the Tibetan homeland
Significantly, 2022 TFF premiered two memorable recent films from Tibet – Khashem Gyal’s Daughter of Light and Sonthar Gyal’s Lhamo and Skalbe. It is an emotionally moving experience for the Tibetan exile community to watch films from Tibet on the big screen as part of the film festival. Due to various political and distribution-related issues, the organisers often find it challenging to acquire films from Tibet for a premiere in Dharamsala. But bringing the stories from the Tibetan homeland to the exile capital makes TFF unique and meaningful.
Khashem Gyal’s documentary Daughter of Light sparked a lot of post-screening discussions and created a powerful emotional impact among the audience. The film follows thirteen-year-old Metok Karpo, who lives with her grandparents following her parents’ separation. The narrative centres around separation, a recurring theme in Tibetan cinema. Metok lives in an urbanised town area, whereas her father, whose face she hardly remembers from childhood, is a nomad living far away in the Tibetan highlands. She is studying at a school for orphans, and we spent considerable time with her there, including an unforgettable competition sequence at the end. One of Metok’s biggest wishes is to meet her father and know more about his world. Gyal embarks on a journey with Metok Karpo to fulfil her wish, and we witness the heartrending story of how a young girl comes to terms with a life shattered into several pieces. Gyal is known for his 2013 debut documentary Valley of the Heroes, set in Hualong (Dpa’Lung), located on the edges of Eastern Tibet in present-day Qinghai province, which looked at the erasure of Tibetan culture and traditions due to the language extinction. An old Tibetan proverb opened that film – “when no one listens, no one tells, and when no one tells, no one learns, and thus when the elders die, so do the traditions and language.” This captures the sense of precariousness in contemporary Tibetan society in relation to the endangered language situation. Like Valley of the Heroes, one could feel the harrowing lamentations lingering in Gyal’s sophomore feature, too, in the form of empathetic capture of Metok’s inner world.
It is hard not to think about the larger Tibetan struggle while watching Daughter of Light in Dharamsala as part of TFF. Many of the informal personal discussions that followed the screening resonated with some of the thoughts shared here. Metok’s separation from her father during childhood, the visit to the grasslands and glimpses into the nomadic life, recurring references to phayul (homeland), the life as an orphan in a boarding school, and many other instances in the film reflect recurring Tibetan exile experiences. Daughter of Light offers a nuanced commentary on specific social issues that impact the Tibetans on the plateau, including the forced resettlement of nomads. Chinese filmmaker Yan Chun Su’s documentary film Drokpa screened under the ‘Perspectives’ section, also documents the alarming disappearance of black tents in the plateau and how it is rapidly changing the Tibetan landscapes forever.
Another feature from Tibet, Sonthar Gyal’s Lhamo and Skalbe, the closing film of the festival, navigates through the familiar narrative scape in Tibetan cinema, exploring the complexities of contemporary society. When Lhamo and Skalbe, the two lead characters, decide to legalise their relationship, it results in a series of revelations leading to secrets buried in their past. The futile attempts to forge an emotional bond out of a strained relationship and the internal journeys undertaken by the characters form the narrative core of the film. Gyal effectively places us in the middle of intimate personal moments, glances and conversations through careful cinematographic decisions. At multiple points, one can connect to the inner struggles of Lhamo and Skalbe. Several humorous instances in the film felt genuine and natural, though the parallel Gesar epic element comes across as a forced additional layer to the narrative. Lhamo and Skalbe carries Gyal’s signature storytelling traits and slow-paced filmmaking style. However, the seemingly Asghar Farhadi-inspired choice of story progression falters this time, and we are left to deal with a film that doesn’t engage beyond a certain point. Despite its flaws, the intense exploration of relationship dynamics makes Sonthar Gyal’s latest film compelling.
Short Film Competition
The Short Film Competition, the most anticipated section of TFF, provides a glimpse into understanding the current filmmaking scene in exile. With regard to short films screened this year, the experimental approach, innovative ways of narration, exceptional production value despite budgetary constraints, and engagements in diverse genres deserve special mention. However, there is room for improvement – both in terms of form and content. Discounting the fact that most of the shorts are debut attempts and the crews have had to work on zero to low budgets, one can still point out many shortcomings on the creative and aesthetic side.
Tenzin Yangdon Nesar’s Tschuedock, the winner in the category, strikes the right balance between surface-level simplicity and thematic subtlety. Who is a Tibetan/who isn’t one, or the Tibetan identity question is expressed from the viewpoint of school kids growing up in exile in Europe. Even within the short running time, Yangdon’s short proves how a visual narrative can be rooted in one’s personal memories and the collective space of the community. Sonam Tshedzom Tingkhye’s conceptually thought-provoking Home similarly delves deep into self and finds meanings for internal thoughts in the larger exile context. This rootedness was missing in many other shorts screened under the category. Ngawang Lodoe’s instant crowdpleaser Momo is Not a Joke, the first runner-up in the category, is certainly hilarious but has a scope limited to many of the YouTube sketches. Tenzin Yeshi’s Fake Cards, which secured third place, portrays the everydayness of resistance and resulting conflictual thoughts and conversations in the background of a self-immolation protest. Beyond registering the thematic element, the intricacy of it doesn’t get translated into a solid visual narrative. Nevertheless, as a filmmaking community struggling to find space for creative expression in exile, every attempt to achieve the same is valuable and crucial for the growth of Tibetan cinema.
A Promising Way Forward
At this edition of TFF, Filmmaker Sonam Tseten introduced Drung Tibetan Filmmakers’ Collective to the festival audience. Sonam, one of the co-founders of Drung (along with fellow filmmakers Tenzin Kalden and Tenzin Tsetan Choklay), shared the future plan of the collective. The Filmmaking Mentorship Program, among the initiatives, will provide an excellent opportunities for aspiring filmmakers and help build a strong community of creative people dedicated to taking cinema forward. It places Drung in a crucial and responsible position for the growth of Tibetan cinema. While a filmmaking collective is imperative for Tibetan cinema to flourish, as Tenzing Sonam reminds us, it is equally important to take these films to a larger audience beyond the community and particular screening venues. He says,
“My hope, however, is that we should be able to raise the standard of filmmaking to a level where many of these films are able to reach wider audience out there through various platforms, and not confined to our small community. I really wish to see that transition happening where younger Tibetans take their craft seriously, learn more and build their strengths in filmmaking, to compete with the best films out there in the world.”
Recently, the Indian premiere of Geleck Palsang’s new documentary Amala happened at Upper TCV in Dharamsala. The film is based on the life of Jetsun Pema, who played an instrumental role in building TCV schools in exile. Following the screening, Tibetan writer Bhuchung Sonam wrote on his social media profile that it was “probably the largest crowd for a Tibetan film”. Amala will have its premiere across different countries in the coming months. Several promising Tibetan films and documentaries are at various stages of production at the moment. One can observe that Tibetan cinema in exile is going through an exciting phase now. Tibet Film Festival, as a primary and constant venue of support for the filmmaking community, holds an important place in this regard. The show must go on.
Gokul K S is a PhD Candidate at IIT Madras researching on ‘Politics of Contemporary Tibetan cinema and filmmaking in exile’ and co-curator of Tibetscapes. He recently attended the Tibet Film Festival held in Dharamsala on 8-9 October at The Clubhouse, Mcleodganj.
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