State of Statelessness, comprises four short segments directed by Tibetan filmmakers living in exile in India, America and Vietnam. Each film delves into the profound themes of statelessness and migration, and captures the poignant realities of Tibetans scattered across the globe. In one story, a Tibetan father in Vietnam shares with his young daughter how the Mekong River, starting in his homeland, flows into the sea in their new country. In another, two sisters come together in a bittersweet reunion to cremate their late mother, only to find that years of separation have woven complex predicaments that they must struggle to untangle. The third film follows Sonam, who is in the midst of recovering from a family tragedy, when a visit by a long-lost school friend from America forces him and his wife to confront the fragility of their lives. In the final tale, a son returns to his deceased father’s home in Dharamshala, where he experiences a glimpse into his past and stumbles upon a secret that challenges his understanding of his heritage and identity.
Tenzin Tsetan Choklay
(At the End the Rain Stops)
Tenzin Tsetan Choklay is a Tibetan-American film- maker based in New York and Dharamshala, India. An alumnus of the first Asian Film Academy, he studied film directing at the prestigious Korean Academy of Film Arts in Seoul, South Korea, with support from Busan International Film Festival, becoming one of the first non-Koreans to do so. In 2014, his feature documentary, Bringing Tibet Home, premiered at the Busan International Film Festival and won numerous international awards. In 2016, the Korean version of the film was released in over 40 theaters across South Korea. In 2020, Tenzin co-founded Drung Tibetan Filmmakers’ Collective, a group of Tibetan filmmakers in Dharamshala dedicated to sharing knowledge, skills, and connections to tell stories about Tibet, India, and beyond. Tenzin’s latest work, 1994, is a short experiential film commissioned by the Rubin Museum of Art in New York City, featured in the Mandala Lab Scent Library, where audiences experience stories connected to scents recreated by a Master Perfumer, alongside works by artists including Laurie Andersen and Apichatpon Weerasethakul.
Sonam Tseten
(Bhardo)
Sonam Tseten is a Tibetan independent filmmaker based in Dharamshala, India. Born In Tibet, Sonam came into exile as a young boy and grew up in India among the Tibetan refugee community. He holds a Master’s degree in Mass Communication. His films include: Tsampa to Pizza (2006), A Girl from China (2008), Pawo (2017), which he co-directed with German filmmaker Marvin Litwak, and most recently, Pema (2019), which premiered at the Dharamshala International Film Festival. His films mostly deal with stories of separation, reunion and exilic experience.
Tenzing Sonam and Ritu Sarin
(Little Cloud)
Tenzing Sonam, a Tibetan filmmaker and artist, was born to Tibetan refugee parents in Darjeeling, India. His partner, Ritu Sarin, is an Indian filmmaker and artist. They have been working together for more than thirty years. Based in Dharamshala, the headquarters of the Tibetan diaspora and exile home of the Dalai Lama. Their work focuses primarily on Tibet and attempts to document and reflect on the questions of exile, identity, culture and nationalism that confront the Tibetan people. Their documentaries have shown worldwide in film festivals and have been broadcast on major television channels including the BBC, PBS, Canal +, Arte, and NHK. Their documentary, The Sun Behind the Clouds (2009), won the Vaclav Havel Award at the One World Film Festival in Prague. They made the Tibetan feature film, Dreaming Lhasa (2005), produced by Jeremy Thomas and Richard Gere, which premiered at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival. Their most recent work, the Tibetan-language feature film, The Sweet Requiem (2018), premiered at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival. Their video installations and art exhibitions have shown at the Kochi-Mu-ziris Biennale, Savvy Contemporary (Berlin), Istanbul Biennale, Mardin Biennial, Contour Biennale 8, Busan Biennale, Mori Art Museum (Tokyo), Kunsthalle Vienna, Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary (Vienna) and Khoj Studios(Delhi). They are the founder-directors of the Dharamshala International Film Festival, one of India’s leading independent film festivals.
Tsering Tashi Gyalthang
(Where the River Ends)
Tsering Tashi Gyalthang is a Tibetan filmmaker and artist based in Vietnam. He was born in India and studied fine arts in the United States. In 2006, Tsering founded Yeti Films, a production house in Vietnam. His short film, The Turtle Soup, was showcased at Cannes Short Film Corner in 2011, and A Tale from Van Phuc Village at the Oberhausen Short
Film Festival in 2012. Tsering’s video installations, in collaboration with Charwei Tsai were exhibited at Sharjah Biennial (2013), Dojima River Biennial(2013), Sidney Biennial (2016), Hayward Gallery(2018), Jogja Biennial (2019), Vernacular Institute Mexico City (2021), and École d’art d’Avignon (2024).
Credits
Directors: Tenzin Tsetan Choklay, Sonam Tseten, Tsering Tashi Gyalthang, Tenzing Sonam & Ritu Sarin
Produced by: Tenzin Tsetan Choklay, Yodon Thonden
Co-produced by: Sonam Tseten, Tenzin Kalden
Music: Tenzin Choegyal, Tashi Gyatso (G.Tashi)
Post-production producer: Rajesh Thanickan
Presented by: Drung Tibetan Filmmakers’ Collective
With support from: The Tibet Fund
