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Cao Zhen
caozhen0806@126.com
CHINESE movie director Pema Tseden’s black-and-white movie “Tharlo” will compete in the Orizzonti section of the 72nd Venice Film Festival, to be held Sept. 2-12, the festival organizer announced last week on its website.
“Tharlo” is based on a short story written by the director himself. Filmed in the Tibetan region of Qinghai Province, the movie centers on a young shepherd whose greatest ambition is to serve the people. But his arrival in the city and his encounter with a girl soon shatter all his illusions. Tibetan actor, poet and musician Shide Nyima was cast in the lead role as Tharlo.
Born in 1969 in the Tibetan region of Amdo in Qinghai to nomadic herder parents, Pema Tseden studied Tibetan literature at Northwest University for Nationalities in Lanzhou, Gansu. He has published more than 50 novels and short fiction pieces in Tibetan and Mandarin since 1991.
He studied directing at the Beijing Film Academy and shot several documentaries and art house movies on modern Tibetan life such as “The Silent Holy Stones” (2005), “The Search” (2009) and “The Old Dog” (2011). His subject is consistent: the contemporary culture and life of Tibet, a practice that consciously puts his films in contrast with the exotic fiction features about Tibet that have been produced by outsiders.
“The Silent Holy Stones,” set where Pema Tseden spent his childhood, is about a young Buddhist monk who, after visiting his family, becomes irremediably entranced with television. The film won awards at major Asian film festivals. “The Search” was selected in competition at the Locarno Film Festival and “The Old Dog” also won awards at major Asian film festivals.
The Venice Film Festival’s director Alberto Barbera and president Paolo Baratta unveiled this year’s lineup two weeks ago. It includes much-buzzed-about American films, a slew of Italian pieces and various voices from world cinema.
Chinese director Guan Hu’s big production “Mr. Six” will close the festival in an out-of-competition screening.
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