Reel Asian 2011: Wednesday

Reviews of screenings from the The 2011 Reel Asian International Film Festival, Toronto, Canada.

Summer Pasture (Tibet/USA 2010, 85 min. Dir: Lynn True, Nelson Walker)

Being a nomadic yak-herder in Tibet doesn't look like a bad gig. There's endless hard work, of course, more of which involves yak dung than I'd enjoy. But there's the sort of closeness to the land and sky and seasons that cityfolk tend to romanticize. Of course, summer is the best time of year, we're told, when nature is at its least harsh.

This documentary takes us up close and personal to Dzachukha, in the high grasslands of Eastern Tibet, where we spend most of one summer with Locho and Yama. Happily married, they're trying their best to provide a life for their infant daughter, who has not yet received a name — a harsh reminder that a baby's survival is less guaranteed in this distant realm, far from doctors or hospitals.

Locho likes his way of life well enough — it's been in his blood for uncountable generations. But he can see the world changing around him, and he knows that the annual seasonal migrations between highland and lowland grazing fields might not be around for much longer. Yama has health problems, and just maybe it would be better to stay in the village where his daughter could go to school — an opportunity that Locho never had.

The film unhurriedly gives us a sense of what their lives are like, with the regularity of hard work and the moments of respite in between. And in spending this time with Locho and Yama we get to see under the surface, learning about some of the storms their marriage has endured.

A very worthy film. I enjoyed its tight focus — the directors knew the story they wanted to tell, and trimmed away everything else. At the same time, however, there was so much more I wanted to know about what was happening outside the frame. Politics (except for some local issues) were largely avoided, so I left feeling curious about how much the rapid rush of change owed to the Chinese occupation and suppression of Tibetan culture, and how much just to "modern times". A much-longer Q&A, beyond the quick couple questions that were raised at the end of the screening, would have been warranted.

My only caveat was that this film did not look good on the big screen. Whether there was a problem with the projection at Innis or if it was just some artifacts from rough-and-tumble in situ film-making, the brights were highly saturated, giving the movie an unpleasant over-exposed look — the butter that Yama was constantly churning looked like glowing toxic waste. Plus there was some blow-up graininess which is probably inherent to its Digibeta origins. That shouldn't be a problem on a TV screen, so this is otherwise well-worth seeking out.

Side-note to film festivals holding screenings at Innis: Innis Town Hall is a very unsoundproofed room. Using the space against the outside walls as a queue for the next movie can create a real distraction during a meditative film like this, when chatter from people outside starts to become as loud as the film on the screen. I know it's hard to avoid when it's getting too cold to have lines outside, but maintaining the "serenity of the space" in a festival screening room needs to be a #1 priority.