Features Lists Projects The Pema Tseden Project (11/11)

All 10 Pema Tseden Movies Reviewed

Pema Tseden (པད་མ་ཚེ་བརྟན།), born in 1969, is the first Tibetan alumni of the prestigious Beijing Film Academy graduating from the director's department. He also studied Chinese-Tibetan translation and worked as a teacher and a civil servant. He is not only a sensitive and highly regarded director, portraying the modern Tibet with attention, accuracy and poetic touch, but also an esteemed writer, whose works have been translated into several languages. Although portraying ethnic minorities is a delicate topic in China, so far he has managed to deal with censors well, as all of his movies got approval. “The Silent Holy Stones”, his debut feature-length film in 2005, the very first feature shot in Tibet with a Tibetan crew, Tibetan actors and in Tibetan language. His following films got selected at international film festivals. As a fiction author, he both writes in Chinese and Tibetan. His books have been translated in several languages. He is also a translator of Tibetan contemporary literature into Chinese (special thanks to Francoise Robin for all her help with anything to do with and Tibetan cinema in general)

Here are his 10 films, in chronological order.

*by clicking on the titles, you can read the full reviews

1. The Weatherman's Legacy (2004)

In less than half an hour, Pema Tseden also presents the beauties of the area, with particularly the images of the rich harvest being very impressive, although the focus is on realism and not creating a cart-postale of the area. This realism becomes more obvious in the depiction of the life of the weatherman and his son, amidst the images of the area and the practices of Buddhism. A competent job has also been done in the editing, with the connection among the various mediums (interviews, footage from the actual lives of the inhabitants, images of the area etc) flowing in artful fashion, and in a speed that adds to the entertainment the film offers.

“The Weatherman's Legacy” is a very interesting short about an almost completely unknown concept, which Pema Tseden has induced with the omnipresent, in his filmography, theme of the clash between tradition and modernity, thus adding another layer of interest in the film. (Panos Kotzathanasis)

2. Grassland (2004)

The Grasslands Pema Tseden Review Asian Movie Pulse

Despite the overflowing religious symbolism carved into the grain of the film, especially when noting the music interwoven within the narrative, “Grassland” is best rooted as a character study not of the characters themselves but with their livelihood in general and their interaction with the world around them. That sheepherders are willing to traverse through such hostile landscapes even against the will of their peers, highlighting the extremes of life away from civilization. Through the barrenness of this wilderness, we are also forced to contemplate our own insignificance in the grand scheme of things. If “Sacred Arrow” is a meditation of rural Tibetan life, then “The Grasslands” is its grim reality counterpart, and giving Tseden a strong foundation of what he would later go on to develop. (James Cansdale-Cook)

3. The Silent Holy Stones (2005)

“The Silent Holy Stones” is a simple film but at the same time, it is also well arranged, funny, sensitive, and touching. Its most important aspect however, is that it manages to de-romanticize a whole area and culture, which is very rarely depicted with such realism. (Panos Kotzathanasis)

4. Flares Wafting in 1983 (2008)

“Flares Wafting in 1983” is completely different than what Pema Tseden has gotten us used to with his other films, who are following a distinctly art-house path, for the most part. However, the outcome of this effort is also quite enjoyable and sterling, to the point that it looks nothing like a TV-production and, additionally, is bound to make the viewer think what would have happened if Pema Tseden had decided to follow a more mainstream path. I gather that he would be as brilliant. (Panos Kotzathanasis)

5. The Search (2009)

Pema Tseden directs a road movie that functions, though, in a number of levels. The most obvious one is the “tour guide” to both the rural and the urban settings of the area. Tseden highlights the beauties of the Tibetan scenery in an almost idyllic fashion but is quite realistic about the life in the villages and the city, including schools, monasteries, homes and even a karaoke bar whose depiction, and of the people in them is stripped from any kind of exotification or cliché. This aspect benefits the most by the excellent cinematography of Sonthar Gyal, who succeeds fully in both regards, while his almost exclusively (with the exception of the car scenes) medium or long shots highlights the various characters the group in connection with the environment that “hosts” them.

“The Search” is a great film, which shows a number of aspects of Tibet through the realistic look of a local, without, though, omitting to offer much entertainment. (Panos Kotzathanasis)

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