C.V. Starr East Asian Library is pleased to announce:
LEGACIES: PEMA TSEDEN & NEW TIBETAN CINEMA
Join us for the opening screening:
The Silent Holy Stones ལྷིང་འཇགས་ཀྱི་མ་ཎི་རྡོ་འབུམ།
Lifetime Screening Room
2960 Broadway
Columbia University
Moderator: Ying Qian, Associate Professor, Dept. of East Asian Languages & Cultures
Discussants: Ron Gregg (Director, MA Program in Film & Media Studies, School of the Arts) and Yewong Dongchung (PhD Candidate, Dept. of East Asian Languages & Cultures)
Pema Tseden’s debut feature film, set in the filmmaker’s home town in Amdo during Tibetan new year, is a moving portrait of a young monk who navigates his monastic life against the pull of the secular world. The film was an Official Selection for the Pusan, Hong Kong, Rotterdam, and San Francisco International Film Festivals, and the International Buddhist Film Festival, and has had screenings at numerous other film festivals and events around the world.
Click here to register.
About LEGACIES
Pema Tseden was born in 1969 in Qinghai Province, China, and was the first Tibetan filmmaker in China to make films entirely in the Tibetan language. His early works, also known as “The Tibetan Trilogy”: The Silent Holy Stones (2005), The Search (2009) and Old Dog (2012), captured the lived realities of contemporary Tibet from an insider’s perspective and formed a distinctive aesthetic style. His later works, such as Tharlo (2015), Jinpa (2018) and Balloon (2019) continued to explore the complexities of the Tibetan experience in a changing society while actively engaging in artistic experimentation. With his movies, Pema Tseden won awards at film festivals both domestically and internationally and is recognized as a leading figure in Tibetan New Wave cinema. Pema Tseden passed away suddenly in May 2023. The film series event will serve as a reflection of his life and work, while also celebrating and looking forward to a new generation of Tibetan filmmaking which he inspired and mentored.
See related article, including overview of Pema Tseden’s connections with Columbia University: https://tibet.columbia.edu/news/pema-tseden-1969-2023-filmmaker-who-initiated-tibetan-new-wave-cinema
This year-long series will consist of three screenings of Pema Tseden’s films, two screenings of young Tibetan filmmakers’ new works, and one roundtable discussion featuring young Tibetan filmmakers in conversation about the legacy of Pema Tseden and their own work. All screenings will be followed by discussion.
Other Events in the Series:
Jan. 26, 2024: Old Dog
Feb. 23, 2024: Balloon
April 12, 2024: Screening of Films by Young Filmmakers
April 13, 2024: Screening of Films by Young Filmmakers & Roundtable