By Tenzin Dharpo
DHARAMSHALA, Nov. 12: Come Sunday, three new Tibetan film makers will showcase their films that they have worked on during a mentorship initiative overseen by a collaborative effort between Delhi based Tibetan NGO, Empowering the Vision Project (ENVISION) and Dharamshala based Drung Tibetan Filmmakers’ Collective, for young aspiring Tibetan filmmakers.
The three film makers, all women, were put through an extensive program, mentored by four well-known Tibetan filmmakers in the Diaspora; Kesang Tsetan (Switzerland), Tsering Tashi Gyalthang (Vietnam), Tsering Rither (Nepal) and Sonam Tsetan (India). Tenzin Choedon who wrote and directed the narrative short film ‘The Quiet Solace of Sunset’ told Phayul, “I felt the need to decolonize my own idea of filmmaking before I expected to see it in the works of Tibetan filmmakers and I explore that in my film too.”
“This program helped me to grow and keep me grounded to the fact that if I were to live my dream, I need to have additional education to accomplish my goals and truly push my creative and intellectual limits if I were to master the craft of filmmaking.”
Fellow mentees and the duo who co-wrote and co-directed the documentary film ‘Unsung Heroes’ were equally introspective of their foray into learning the craft and how this medium can highlight the Tibetan narrative and its struggle. “I have always felt it really strong that as a Tibetan refugee, now it should be us who tells our own stories and at this time in the history of our nation, our grandparents’ generation are slowly passing out which sometimes really scares me because we are now the one who’s responsible to tell the stories of our grandparents to the future generation,” Thinley Choedon said.
Her colleague Sherab Wangmo said that despite the pandemic, the mentors and facilitators were always on call during the program, “the mentorship program by Envision and Drung films has been a rollercoaster session to learn making this short film. With constant online seminars from Tibetan filmmakers in our community and our zoom calls with the mentors who are very kind to help us, it has been a privilege. This kind of opportunity is very rare in our society. And I think that it will be much more effective if the mentorship program can be done in person next time.”
One of the mentors and founders of Drung Films Tenzin Tsetan feels that such initiatives are important as it connects amateurs and enthusiast in the field to “communicate and speak to someone who’s been through the process of making films before you, which helps you gain perspective and learn from their experience”.
“Other than that, we also realize that not everyone in our community has the opportunity to go to a formal film school to study and programs such as this can help youngsters experience the field and decide whether it’s really for them or not,” he added.
Tsetan who wrote and directed the documentary/drama ‘Bringing Tibet Home’ that was an official selection at Busan film festival (2013), said that the Tibetan film making scene is gradually picking up among the youth with creative music videos, documentaries and short films. “Of course, with the lack of a home audience or community support for film professionals, it’s a difficult path to be a Tibetan filmmaker in exile but even then there are a number of Tibetans working in the field.
“Now with the Tibetan community in exile spreading out more and more, the role storytelling plays in our lives has become ever more important. Stories not just help us document our time, and how people live and think in these times but also help us remain connected as a community. So we at Drung Tibetan Filmmakers Collective are dedicated to the advancement of storytelling in the Tibetan exile communities.”
The two short films; a narrative short film titled ‘The Quiet Solace of Sunset’ and a documentary short on Tibetan Special Frontier Forces (SFF) will be screened virtually from November 14, 2021 at 7pm (IST) and will remain online for viewing till Nov 15, 2021 7pm(IST). The virtual screening will take place on Drung’s youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/drungfilms
