Jinpa, Ziqi Xiong, Tseten Tashi
The last film completed by the late, pioneering Tibetan auteur Pema Tseden (his third to feature at Screening Days, following Tharlo and Balloon) is the story of a majestic but deadly snow leopard and its complicated symbiotic relationship with the communities of the Tibetan plateau.
Shot in the stunning high altitudes of Qinghai province, it’s told through the eyes of a regional TV crew reporter (Genden Phuntsok) and his former schoolmate Nyima (Tseten Tashi), now a monk with a passion for photography. While the monk’s brother, a herder (Jinpa) whose sheep have been savaged by a local leopard, wants to kill it, the monk – who seems to have a fantastical, subliminal connection to this glorious animal – wants to save it at all costs. So do the local policemen, as the snow leopard is a protected species by law.
Another deeply rooted drama from the very sadly departed Tseden, Snow Leopard is a poignant call for harmony and empathy between humans and wild animals, and a striking investigation into the tensions between traditional values and contemporary dynamics in pastoral Tibet.
