Festival of Tibet films held in India

A still from the film Dreaming Lhasa

Delhi's cultural circuit has been humming with activity recently. Among the high points of the last week was a festival of gripping Tibetan films at the plush India Habitat Centre.
Organised jointly by the Foundation for Universal Responsibility of HH The Dalai Lama and Habitat Film Club, the films transported the viewer to the life and ethos of the Tibetans. Among the noteworthy films were The Joy of Living, We Homes Chaps, Milarepa, The Cup, Dreaming Lhasa and Richard Gere is My Hero. The first documentary film is a compelling portrayal of Anni Sonam Tsering, a compassionate elderly Tibetan Buddhist nun whose small shack in Dharamsala has served as home for street dogs. Over the course of 30 years, she has established an enduring bond with these unwanted animals even in the face of vociferous opposition from neighbours and residents of Dharamsala. The film follows Anni as she goes out in search of food for the dogs, collecting left overs from other residents, hotels, roadsides, parties and weddings. However, after a sudden fire, this haven for dogs has been destroyed and the nun has to painstakingly put her life together again. The credit for this sensitive film must go to Kelsang Tsering, who has written, directed and edited the work.
We Homes Chaps is even more heart wrenching. Made by Sesang Tseten, the film homes in on Dr Graham's Homes in Kalimpong, West Bengal. The unique Scottish Presbyterian home was founded in 1900 by The Reverend John Anderson Graham and was borne out of empathy for marginalised Anglo-Indian children of tea gardens in Darjeeling district. Now it takes in orphans, mainly destitute Anglo-Indian children, along with children of Tibetan refugees and other Himalayan people affected by the conflict in the region. The focus is on all-round education centred in good old-fashioned and colonial Christian values.
The camera pans in on a group of alumni from the Home who take the viewer back in time to their childhood. Many break into tears as they recount stories of being sent there at the age of five or six, sometimes not to go home for years on end. The film is a personal voyage for Tseten who visits the school with his classmates, 29 years previously. “This is a searing and yet lyrical reflection on displacement, marginality, nostalgia, the powerful hold of early experience and the nature of love,” says a note of the Habitat Centre.
Other films that caught attention were Milarepa, The Cup (both based on true stories, Dreaming Lhasa and Richard Gere is My Hero. Milarepa, filmed in the picturesque Lahaul-Spiti region of Northern India, has won the Audience Favourite Award at the National Geographic All Roads Film Festival. The Cup too has earned bouquets such as the Screen International Award: European Film Awards and One Future Prize: Munich Film Festival.
With such wonderful fare for the film buff, it is surprising that the turnout was not larger. Perhaps it could be put down to an often apathetic Delhi audience that has a propensity for the Page 3 kind of event or the steamy and slick comedies. On the whole, however, the Habitat Centre insiders were not unhappy. Says Vidyun Singh, director of programmes, “ These films carry the universal messages of peace, introspection and the need for an exploration inwards. Many people who were unaware of the festival dropped in and enjoyed the films.”