LO SUM CHOE SUM (2015)

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Synopsis

The traditional ‘3 Year 3 Month Retreat’ or ‘Lo Sum Choe Sum’ is practiced by Buddhist monks, nuns and other devout practitioners. 3 years, 3 months, and 3 days is calculated as the time needed to achieve a higher state of clarity and motivation. By cutting oneself off from the world, and delving into the inner mind, the retreat is supposed to transform the practitioner. Can Lhamo, a young, wounded girl facing the harsh gaze of the world, find her own form of retreat and redemption? Lo Sum Choe Sum was Bhutan’s first entry into the Berlinale Shorts Competition. It was made in 2015 by filmmaker Dechen Roder, who later produced and wrote and directed the well-acclaimed Honeygiver Among the Dogs.

Dzongkha with ENGLISH subtitles

Festivals/Screenings

(Selective not comprehensive)
Berlinale Shorts Competion 2015
Friboug International Film Festival 2015
Prague Shorts 2016
Melbourne International Film Festival 2015
Palm Springs Shortfest 2015

Dechen Roder

Dechen Roder is one of the few female filmmakers from the kingdom of Bhutan. She started off making small documentaries and videos, through her production company – Dakinny Productions in 2009. In 2015 she wrote and directed Lo Sum Choe Sum (3 Year 3 Month Retreat), which competed in the Berlinale Shorts and other festivals around world. That same year she began production of her debut feature film- Honeygiver Among the Dogs, (recipient of the ACF 2016 post production award and the HANIFF 2014 project market award), which premiered in Busan International Film Festival 2017, had its European premiere in Berlinale 2017 and won three awards at the Fribourg International Film Festival 2017. It was also the first film from Bhutan to be nominated for an Asia Pacific Screen Award 2017 in the Cultural Diversity category. In 2019 Dechen Roder won the MPA Asian Pacific Screen Awards Film Fund for the film I, the Song. Dechen Roder is also the co-founder and co-organizer of Bhutan’s first film festival- Beskop Tshechu and the creator of www.beskopbhutan.com