Lo Sum Choe Sum

Director: Dechen Roder
Bhutan | Dzongkha
2015 | 20min | Colour 
Subtitles: English
Indian Premiere
Friday, Nov 6 TIPA, 11:00 AM
Presented in collaboration with the Asian Cultural Council.

The traditional ‘3 Year, 3 Month Retreat’ or ‘Lo-Sum-Choe-Sum’ is practiced by Buddhist monks, nuns and other devout practitioners. 3 years, 3 months, and 3 days is calculated as the time needed to achieve a higher state of clarity and motivation. By cutting oneself off from the world, and delving into the inner mind, the retreat is supposed to transform the practitioner. Can Lhamo, a young, wounded girl facing the harsh gaze of the world, find her own form of retreat and redemption?

Dechen Roder

Dechen Roder was born in 1980 in Bumthang, Bhutan, and has been making documen­taries and films since 2004. In 2011 she made her first fiction short An Original Photocopy of Happiness which won Jury Mention at the Hong Kong ifva Awards 2012 and was nominated for Best Short Film at the Brussels International Indepen­dent Film Festival. Dechen is also the co-founder and organizer of the first and only documentary and short film festival in Bhutan, Beskop Tshechu. Lo Sum Choe Sum is her third short fiction. She is currently developing her first feature film. 

Credits

Director: Dechen Roder
Producer: Dechen Roder
Screenwriter: Dechen Roder 
Cinematographer: Jigmé T. Tenzing
Editor: Dechen Roder
Sound: Benjamin Hörbe
Production Company: Dakinny Productions
Cast: Dechen Zangmo

Festival Appearances & Awards

Berlin International Film Festival 2015
Fribourg International Film Festival, Switzerland 2015
Seoul International Women’s Film Festival 2015
Palm Springs International ShortFest 2015
Melbourne International Film Festival 2015
Lessinia International Film Festival, Italy 2015
Buddhist Film Festival Europe, Netherlands 2015