DIFF Draws Crowds to Dharamshala

By Per Loufman / November 14, 2019;

A young Tibetan girl leaves Tibet expecting never to see her family again, but when she reaches Dharamshala years later, she is reunited with her father. This story of Tibetan exile unfolds in the film Pema by Sonam Tsetan, one of two Tibetan films shown at the eighth annual Dharamshala International Film Festival, of DIFF as it is commonly known. The cold weather, wind and rain did not preventpeople from across the world from flocking to Dharamshala from November 7- 10 for this year’s lineup of independent films.

Tenzin Sonam and Rita Surin
Photo: DIFF Facebook

The founders of the festival, Tenzin Sonam and Rita Surin, expressed their gratitude for such a large turnout, but stressed the importance and difficulty of securing funding for the festival. According to Tenzin Sonam, the festival was under threat of cancellation this year.

The other film with a Tibetan director at this year’s festival was a documentary entitled Light a Candle by Tenzin Kalden. It tells the story of activists from the pressure group Students for Free Tibet and their attempt to break the world record for the most candles lit on one birthday cake; the occasion was the 29^th birthday of His Holiness the Panchen Lama,Gedhun Choekyi Nima, who at the age of six was identified as the 11^th reincarnation of the Panchen Lama by His Holinessthe Dalai Lama, and who was detained in 1995 by the Chinese authorities and has not been seen since. The director, Tenzin Kalden, said the film is, “about constant Chinese influence that’s sometimes tangible, sometimes intangible, it’s always there.”

DIFF at TIPA ground
Photo: DIFF Facebook

The films were screened in the newly constructed auditorium at TIPA, the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts, above McLeod Ganj, and 2019 marked the first year the festival accepted film submissions from the public. It was also the first time the festival handed out the “Gender Sensitivity Award,” an honour that went to the film Yeh Freedom Life directed by Priya Sen.

In addition to screenings, the festival offered film making workshops and an acting class led by the famous Indian actor Adil Hussain. The opportunities for fans to interact with directors and actors are one of the many things that have made DIFF the success that it is today.