‘Actor Tenzin’ sweeps 10th Tibet Film Festival
DHARAMSALA, 14 Oct: Tenzin Namdol was adjudged the winner of both the jury award and audience poll for his short film ‘Actor Tenzin’ at 10th Tibet Film Festival held at Blossoms Village resort near Dharamsala.
The festival, that prides itself on providing a platform for young Tibetan filmmakers to show their talent and passion in filmmaking to a greater audience opened with ‘Tenzin’ by Tenzin Dhonden, a Nepal-based Tibetan filmmaker.
‘ We started off with a vision to give a platform for Tibetan filmmakers to showcase their film and promote Tibetan films. Its been 10 years now and just like a child of ten, the festival now has some form, shape and following,” Nyima Thondup, the co-founder of the festival in Dharamsala who attended the first day of the festival as the Chief Guest said in his opening remarks.
“I hope that the festival continues and gets better and that the participation and support for it keeps increasing and grow by leaps and bounds,” Po Nyima as he is fondly called added.
He further thanked the Zurich team and the older organizing members of the past and the current younger members of the festival.
The Tibet Film Festival in Dharamsala was founded in 2011 by Tseten Allemann and Nyima Thondup, a couple from Switzerland, who networked with Tibetan groups and organizations in and around Dharamshala in order to present their work together.
Apart from ‘Tenzin’ and ‘Actor Tenzin’, ‘The Chirp’ by Tenzin Dalha, ‘Horse’ by Tsering Wangmo and ‘Kachem The Last Word’ by Tenzin Gyaltsen are the five entries for this year’s short film competition.
‘Actor Tenzin’ was awarded both the jury award and audience poll award at the festival held over 12-13 Oct and received the cash prize of US a$ 1,000 and 300 respectively. The short film also won the audience poll award of $300 at the Zurich Tibetan Film Festival.
The festival that restricts itself to the screening of films made by Tibetan filmmakers or films that are made by non-Tibetan filmmakers but where Tibetans have a huge involvement also screened 9 other films which were either made by Tibetan filmmakers or where Tibetans have a huge involvement.
The Tibet Film Festival was founded in 2008, inspired by Dhondup Wangchen, a self-taught Tibetan filmmaker, who was imprisoned for his film ‘Leaving Fear Behind’.
Dhondup Wangchen was released from prison in June 2014 and now lives with his family in the USA since 2017.
Three years after its inception, the annual Tibetan film festival started to host both in Dharamsala and Swiss since 2011.
