"The wrench of exile is the theme of this quartet of short films from Tibetan directors, who themselves all live outside Tibet. Their intimate, emotional family dramas tell stories of separation and migration. In two of them, the 90-year-old Dalai Lama smiles out from photographs on shrines, a reminder of the precariousness of Tibet's future. As a character in one of the films puts it bluntly: will there be anything to stop China erasing Tibetan identity when its rock-star spiritual leader is no longer around?"
"In the first film a Tibetan man lives in a kind of complicated happiness in Vietnam. He loves his wife, and they both adore their sunny-natured little daughter, but he has mournful eyes. Home is a town on the banks of the Mekong River, which has its source in Tibet. The river is a constant reminder of the region and of Chinese might too, since Chinese hydropower dams are the cause of drought downstream in Vietnam."
"Two of the short films feature Tibetans returning to the refugee community in the Indian town of Dharamshala for family funerals. But the saddest of all follows a Tibetan artist in Dharamshala whose marriage has been splintered by tragedy. The artist is excited to host an old school friend visiting from New York for dinner. He walks with a limp and tells his wife that his friend was his protector in school."
Four short films by Tibetan directors living outside Tibet portray exile through intimate family dramas focused on separation and migration. Photographs of the 90-year-old Dalai Lama on household shrines underscore cultural precarity and raise fears about the survival of Tibetan identity without its spiritual leader. One film follows a Tibetan family in Vietnam, where the Mekong River symbolizes regional roots and the effects of Chinese hydropower dams on downstream drought. Two films depict returns to the refugee community in Dharamshala for family funerals. Another follows an artist in Dharamshala whose marriage unravels; a disastrous dinner with an old school friend culminates in a quiet, moving scene of private grief. The overall mood is deep and desperate.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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