ARTICLE
Pema Tseden is becoming the emblematic figure of Tibetan cinema and his latest film Jinpa is his best film yet
By Say Peng / 09 Oct 2019 (Wednesday)
What do you think of first when you hear 'Tibet'?
I can bet a million that you would think of the Dalai Lama. Anything else? Probably Tibetan Buddhism and Tibet's conflict with China.
I bet you would never think of Tibetan films.
Yes, there are actually filmmakers making films in Tibet.
And the most famous of them all is Pema Tseden.
Originally an author of acclaimed novels, Tseden decided to pursue filmmaking in 2002.
His debut movie The Silent Holy Stones, which was shot in northwest China's Qinghai province, came out that year.
His second film The Search was the first film made in Tibet with an entirely Tibetan crew and in the Tibetan language.
It was only with his fifth film Tharlo that Tseden broke into the international spotlight.
Tharlo premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2015 to positive reception.
Three years later, Tseden returned to Venice with Jinpa, which won Best Screenplay at the Horizons sidebar of the festival.
Based on Tsering Norbu's novel The Slayer as well as his own novel I Ran Over a Sheep, the film tells the story of Jinpa, a truck driver who accidentally runs over and kills a sheep.
En route, he picked up a young hitchhiker who is on his way to kill a man who murdered his father years ago.
After the two men part, Jinpa reflects on this chance meeting and decides to track down the hitchhiker to stop the murder.
A metaphysical meditation on killing and karma, Jinpa sees Tseden continuing to develop his distinct poetic style and is the filmmaker's best work till date.
Jinpa will screen exclusively at Filmgarde Cineplexes on 12th and 13th October as part of the Contemporary Asian Cinema series co-curated by the Singapore Film Society.
Get your tickets here: https://fgcineplex.com.sg/movies/details/2000001244