Pema Tseden

Pema Tseden (Tibetan: པད་མ་ཚེ་བརྟན།, Wylie: pad ma tshe brtan), also called Wanma Caidan (simplified Chinese: 万玛才旦; traditional Chinese: 萬瑪才旦; pinyin: Wàn mǎ cái dàn; December 1969 – 8 May 2023) was a Chinese Tibetan film director and screenwriter.^[1] He was a professor at the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou^[2] and a member of the Film Directors Guild of China, China Film Association, and Chinese Film Literature Association. He is known for making many films entirely in Tibetan language and presenting a more realistic depiction of Tibetan life as opposed to the exoticism often associated with the region.

Pema Tseden
པད་མ་ཚེ་བརྟན།
Tseden in 2012
Born	December 1969 Guide County, Qinghai, China
Died	8 May 2023(2023-05-08) (aged 53)
Alma mater	Northwest University for Nationalities Beijing Film Academy
Occupation(s)	Director, screenwriter
Years active	1991–2023
Organization(s)	China Film Directors' Guild China Film Association Chinese Film Literature Association
Notable work	The Silent Holy Stones Tharlo

Biography

Early life and education

Pema Tseden was born into a pastoral family, in Guide County, Qinghai, in December 1969, during the Cultural Revolution. He was raised by his grandfather, who was a monk.^[3] He was the only one of three siblings to have finished school.^[4] He graduated from Northwest University for Nationalities, where he majored in Tibetan Language and Literature. After graduation, he worked as a primary school teacher and a civil servant. Then he pursued advanced studies at China's most prestigious film school, Beijing Film Academy, where he became the Academy's first-ever Tibetan student.^[4][5]

Career

Pema Tseden's debut work, The Silent Holy Stones, won the Best Directorial Debut at the 25th Golden Rooster Awards, Asian New Talent Award for Best Director at the 9th Shanghai International Film Festival, Special Jury Award at the 8th Changchun Film Festival, and Best First Feature at the 13th Beijing College Student Film Festival.

In 2009, Soul Searching won the Special Jury Award at the 12th Shanghai International Film Festival and was nominated for Golden Goblet Award.

Tharlo, a film adaptation based on the novel of the same name by himself, won the Best Adapted Screenplay at the 52nd Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards, also prizes in the 23rd Beijing College Student Film Festival, and the film was nominated for Golden Lion at the 72nd Venice International Film Festival.^[6][7]

In June 2016, Pema Tseden was detained by police after attempting to re-enter the baggage claim area at Xining airport to retrieve one of his luggage.^[8] The police said he refused to cooperate and suffered three cuts where the handcuff dug into his skin. His colleagues reported that during the scuffle, he was grabbed by the hair and suffered many bruises, after which he was interrogated all night. On Saturday, he was ordered to serve administrative detention but was hospitalized the following Monday after experiencing headaches, chest pains, and high blood sugar. Wang Lei, media director for Tharlo, said Pema Tseden had diabetes and was not able to medicate normally during detention.^[9] The Film Directors Guild of China issued a statement calling for an investigation into whether the police had used excessive force.^[10]

Pema Tseden was the first filmmaker in greater China to make films entirely in Tibetan language.^[10] He was known for his realistic portrayal of modern Tibetans, compared to the more mystical depictions often associated with the region.^[8]

Filmmakers are starting to more accurately capture the essence of life in Tibet. They are starting to let go of the old stereotypes.

— Pema Tseden, The New York Times

Death

Pema Tseden died from heart failure on 8 May 2023, at the age of 53. He was about to finish the ninth film that would have been both written and directed by himself.^[11][12] He had a son.^[2]

Filmography

Film

Year	English title	Tibetan title	Chinese title	Director
2002	The Silent Holy Stones	ལྷང་འཇགས་ཀྱི་མ་ཎི་རྡོ་འབུམ།	静静的嘛呢石
2004	The Grassland	རྩྭ་ཐང་།	草原
	The Weatherman's Legacy		最后的防雹师
2005	The Last Hail Suppresso		末代防雹师
2007	Soul Searching (or The Search)	འཚོལ།	寻找智美更登
			嘎陀大法会
			桑耶寺
2011	Old Dog	ཁྱི་རྒན།	老狗
2009	Flares Wafting in 1983		喇叭裤飘荡在1983
2014	The Sacred Arrow	གཡང་མདའ།	五彩神箭
2015	Tharlo	ཐར་ལོ།	塔洛
2017	My Little Lama	ངའི་བཙུན་ཆུང་།།	我的小喇嘛
2018	Jinpa	ལག་དམར།	撞死了一只羊
2019	Balloon	དབུགས་ལྒང་།	气球
2020	Cordyceps		冬虫夏草
	Singer	གླུ་པ།		Screen writer
2022	Eternal Day		永恒的一天	Director
	Strangers
2023	Seventeen Mile		十七英里
	Snow Leopard	གངས་གཟིག	雪豹
2024	Have a nice trip	འགྲུལ་ལམ་བདེ་མོ།	祝你旅途愉快

Bibliography

• Enticement: Stories of Tibet, translated by Patricia Schiaffini-Vedani and Michael Monhart, Albany, NY: State University of New York Press ISBN 9781438474267^[13]

Awards

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Notes
2005	25th Golden Rooster Awards	Best Directorial Debut	The Silent Holy Stones	Won
	10th Busan International Film Festival	New Currents Award		Nominated
2006	9th Shanghai International Film Festival	Asian New Talent Award for Best Director		Won
	8th Changchun Film Festival	Best Director		Nominated
		Special Jury Award		Won
	13th Beijing College Student Film Festival	Best First Feature		Won
2007	7th Chinese Film Media Award	Best New Director		Nominated
2009	12th Shanghai International Film Festival	Golden Goblet	Soul Searching	Nominated
		Special Jury Award		Won
	7th Bangkok International Film Festival	Grand Jury Prize		Won
	62nd Locarno International Film Festival	Best Film		Nominated
	25th Warsaw International Film Festival			Nominated
	3rd Seoul Digital Film Festival			Nominated
	53rd London International Film Festival			Nominated
	Nantes Three Continents Film Festival			Nominated
	16th Beijing University Film Festival			Nominated
2011	12th Tokyo Future International Film Festival	Best Picture	Old Dog	Won
2012	Brooklyn Film Festival	Best Native Feature		Won	[14]
2014	17th Shanghai International Film Festival	Golden Goblet	The Sacred Arrow	Nominated
2015	Chinese Film Directors Association	Screenwriter of the Year		Nominated
	72nd Venice International Film Festival	Golden Lion	Tharlo	Nominated
	52nd Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards	Best Director		Nominated
		Best Adapted Screenplay		Won
		Best Feature Film		Nominated
2016	23rd Beijing College Student Film Festival	Artistic Exploration Award		Won
		Best Picture		Nominated
		Best Director		Nominated
	22nd Visul Asia International Film Festival	Golden Tricycle Award		Won
		Paris Oriental Language Award		Won
	16th Tokyo Filmex	Best Film		Won
		Student Jury Award		Won
	12th China Independent Film Exhibition	Best Film of the Year		Won
	17th Chinese Film Media Awards	Best Film		Nominated
		Best Director		Nominated
		Best Screenplay		Nominated
2017	31st Golden Rooster Awards	Best Low-budget Feature		Won
2018	75th Venice International Film Festival	Best Screenplay	Jinpa	Won	[15]
	55th Golden Horse Awards	Best Director		Nominated
		Best		Nominated
	3rd Lizhi International Film Festival	Best Film		Won
2019	76th Venice International Film Festival		Balloon	Nominated
	2019 Toronto International Film Festival	Contemporary World Cinema		Nominated
	24th Busan International Film Festival	A Window on Asian Cinema		Nominated
	20th Tokyo Filmex			Won
	Asia-Pacific Film Festival	Best Film		Nominated
	5th Chicago International Film Festival	Best Screenplay		Won
	2nd Hainan Island International Film Festival	Best Film		Won	[16]

References

1. Yangqiao, Lu (6 April 2016). "PEMA TSEDEN with Lu Yangqiao". The Brooklyn Rail. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
2. May, Tiffany (13 May 2023). "Pema Tseden, Pioneering Tibetan Filmmaker, Is Dead at 53". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
3. "The long take". The Economist. Vol. 447, no. 9347. 20 May 2023. p. 82.
4. "Pema Tseden: Tibetan Films for Tibetan People". Asia Society. 10 April 2010.
5. "Film Series: Soul-Searching in Tibet". Asia Society and Museum. 15 April 2010.
6. 万玛才旦导演作品《塔洛》获金马奖四项提名. Ifeng (in Chinese). 2 October 2015.
7. Guo Rui and Du Xinmao (17 November 2015). 万玛才旦：我不是塔洛，他太孤独. Ifeng (in Chinese).
8. Ramzy, Austin (29 June 2016). "Tibetan Director Hospitalized After Detention by Chinese Police". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
9. "Tibetan filmmaker hospitalised after being taken from Chinese airport by police – report". Hong Kong Free Press. 29 June 2016.
10. Brzeski, Patrick (29 June 2016). "Tibetan Filmmaker Hospitalized After Detention by Chinese Police". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
11. "著名导演万玛才旦因心脏病去世！第9部电影刚杀青". HSW. 8 May 2023. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
12. Wang, Xintong (8 May 2023). "Award-Winning Chinese Director Pema Tseden Dies at 53". Caixin Global.
13. "Enticement: Stories of Tibet". IIAS.
14. "Tibetan filmmaker wins 'Best Feature' at Brooklyn Film Festival". Catholic Online. 13 June 2012.
15. "Chinese film Jinpa wins Orizzonti prize at Venice". China Daily. 11 September 2018. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
16. Chen Chen (9 December 2019). 第二届海南岛国际电影节闭幕，万玛才旦《气球》摘“金椰”. thepaper.cn (in Simplified Chinese). Retrieved 18 February 2020.

External links

• Pema Tseden biography by Dhondup Tashi Rekjong on The Treasury of Lives (peer reviewed), published July 19, 2023
• Pema Tseden at IMDb
• The Doctor, by Pema Tseden.
• (in French) Thomas Sotinel, Au milieu d'une avalanche de tragédies, deux films illuminent Locarno, Le Monde, 16 août 2009
• (in French) Tenzing Sonam, Une tempête tranquille: Pema Tseden et l'émergence du cinéma tibétain, Monde chinois n° 31 (Automne 2012) Tibet : créer pour résister
• The Search