Lung Ta
Director: Kaoru Ikeya
Japan | Japanese, Tibetan
2015 | 111min | Colour
Subtitles: English
International Premiere
Saturday, Nov 7 TIPA, 3:45 PM
Presented in collaboration with the Asian Cultural Council.
Why do Tibetans choose to burn themselves? Protest, in the form of self-immolation, against the Chinese government’s suppression in Tibet has been taking place frequently since 2009. Kazuhiro Nakahara is a Japanese man living in Dharamsala, India. Well known as the ‘Dalai Lama’s architect, he had been the official architect of the Tibetan Government-in-exile. Nakahara was shocked to know a junior high school girl’s self-immolation, which lead him to visit and interview Tibetan refugees in Dharamsala. Tibetans say that self-immolation, an act of offering one’s body without harming others, is at its core a non-violent form of protest. The story continues when Nakahara tries to enter Tibet where the self-immolations took place to learn the details and hidden stories of the protests.
Kaoru Ikeya
Kaoru Ikeya was borned in Tokyo, Japan on 14 October 1958. Having directed documentaries for television, he released first theatrical feature film Daughter from Yan’an (2002), which received international awards, Best Documentary from Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Silver Hugo from Chicago International Film Festival, Vaclav Havel Special Award from One World International Human Rights and others. His second film The Ants (2006) marked the long running hit in theaters in Japan and won Humanitarian Award from Hong Kong International Film Festival and CDS Filmmaker Award from Full Frame Film Festival. His third film Roots (2012) won Special Mention, Ecumenical Juries Award from Berlin International Film Festival 2013 , Firebird Award from Hong Kong International Film Festival 2013, and was present at DIFF 2013.
Credits
Director: Kaoru Ikeya
Producer: Yoko Kown
Cinematographer: Masaharu Fukui
Editor: Iori Niitsu
Sound: Takehiko Watanabe
Production Company: Ren Universe, Inc.
Cast: Kazuhiro Nakahara
