Interviews

KESANG MARSTRAND  Saturday, February 28, 2009

Born to a Danish mother and Tibetan father, Kesang (pronounced kay-song) Marstrand is not your ordinary mixed-origin singer-songwriter. Now out with her debut album Bodega Rose, Marstrand's music is soulful acoustic that's at once gripping and memorable. We speak to her about her new record, Tibet and convenience stores

Tell us a little about yourself. How would you describe your music to someone who hasn't heard it before?

I've been playing guitar and writing songs for about ten years now, and just released my first album.

In my songwriting I usually try to explore an idea or an image and create space and texture around it, lyrically as well as musically. In terms of the genre, I'll sometimes call it folk, but there's also a jazz influence. My songs tend to be calmer than a lot of music out there, so I think it has an intimate feel as well.

You come from a varied cultural background. How do you think that has affected your sound?

For the song ‘Real Boy,' I had written an accompanying part that Karl Berger played on piano, and after he'd written out the music, he said, “this is a Tibetan melody.” It was interesting to me because I hadn't noticed it until he said something. I guess that's an example of my background showing up in my music, but on a deeper level I think that it's too hard to really place.

What is a Bodega Rose? Any chance it's a reference to California? Tell us a little about your debut album.

In New York City, which is where I live mostly, ‘bodega' is just a word for a convenience store. The title song is about the roses you can buy outside most bodegas. The sentiment of the song has to do with the choices we make, and the inevitable sacrifice of choosing something like living in the city as opposed to living in a more natural environment. It's about reconciling a choice and recognizing that there's a sacrifice in everything, but that there's also a beauty in that. I think the entire album is about reconciliation, in different ways.

I recorded ‘Bodega Rose' in Woodstock, at Sertso Studio, which is owned by Karl Berger whom I mentioned above. Karl co-founded the Creative Music Studio with Ornette Coleman in the 70's, and he's an incredible musical mind on so many levels… it was a big deal to be able to have him play on the album. Everyone I worked with on this album brought something special to it, and I feel lucky to have had such a great experience for my first project.

You released a song ‘Tibet Will Be Free' as a free download. Is a cause like that a major part of your music?

Creatively I tend toward the abstract and the conceptual, so, ‘Tibet Will Be Free,' was a different sort of song for me to write. I wrote it in March of last year when a lot of peaceful protests were taking place inside of Tibet. I basically wanted to write a song that expressed very simply, the real possibility of a free Tibet. I don't know if I would say that the cause is a big part of my music, but it's definitely something that I hold dear in my beliefs.

Top 5 songs on your iPod right now.

‘Le Notti' – Ezio Bosso
‘In Your Eyes' – Béla Fleck
‘Elli' – Avishai Cohen
‘Raoui' – Souad Massi
‘For Sascha' - Béla Fleck

http://www.indiecision.com /2009/02/28/interview-kesa ng-marstrand/

Pema: the story of a young girl from Tibet

Kunleng invites filmmaker Sam Wangyal to discuss his short film on Pema, a girl who left her home and family in Tibet to attend school in a Tibetan school in Mussoorie, India.

Director seeks to capture life in modern Tibet

By Louisa Lim

Pema Tsetan is the first Tibetan filmmaker in China to shoot a film entirely in the Tibetan language, with a Tibetan crew.

Pema Tsetan is the son of Tibetan nomads, the only one of three siblings to have finished his schooling. He is also the first director in China ever to film movies entirely in the Tibetan language.

This is a sensitive issue, since the exiled Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama, has accused China of “cultural genocide” since it occupied Tibet in 1951. But The Search , Pema Tsetan's latest film, won the Grand Jury Prize at Shanghai's recent International Film Festival and is slated to be shown at the upcoming Locarno film festival in Switzerland.

Journey through new Tibet

Pema Tsetan's Tibet is not the land of soaring peaks and picturesque monasteries. It's a land of stark brown hills and squat, featureless, one-story brick houses.

He feels he is setting the record straight.

In his first interview with a Western media outlet, the 40-year-old filmmaker — who is also known as Wanma Caidan — tells NPR that for too many years, Tibet has been depicted by outsiders who pander to their own imagination.

“I think Tibet has always been mythologised and worshipped, and made more remote,” he says. “People's psychological expectations and experiences of Tibet are stuck in the past. They don't understand the new Tibet.”

The Search is literally a journey through new Tibet. It looks like a documentary, but it isn't. Filmed near Qinghai Lake in the far western Chinese province of Qinghai — the same area where Pema Tsetan was born — the movie uses nonprofessional actors speaking only the Amdo dialect.

The movie follows a film crew looking for a singer to perform the part of Tibetan opera character Prince Drime Kunden. This deeply symbolic character epitomises selflessness and the virtue of charity; he is a previous incarnation of Buddha, who gave away his children and wife, and all his possessions to those in need and eventually plucks out his own eyes.

But in modern Tibet, the film crew struggles to find anyone who can remember — or perform — the story.

“That's really how things are,” Pema Tsetan says. “In some areas, villagers always used to perform the Tibetan operas, and everyone would go to watch. But people aren't interested anymore, and it's harder to see them performed. Some places still want to continue, but they've received many challenges. Tibetan opera is a symbol of Tibetan culture.”

Search for disappearing culture

At times, the film feels like Tibetan Idol, with the film crew recording bizarre and amusing auditions in frost-swept brick courtyards, cavernous rehearsal rooms and dimly lit anterooms.

They encounter a Tibetan opera troupe consisting of girls performing stylised dances and using butter churns as props, but who can't actually sing Tibetan opera. They hear a boy monk in a monastery who recites the English alphabet for his audition, and a Tibetan Charlie Chaplin who leaves them in stitches.

The film also features a man who used to sing the part of Drime Kunden and now performs in a nightclub. Drunken and furious, the nightclub singer tells them he hates the role, and asks them whether they really believe love still exists in this world.

Pema Tsetan says that, on one level, the film reflects a search for Tibet's disappearing culture.

“It's being buffeted by modernisation. It's not obvious, but it's being affected. It's like those sacred stones with Buddhist sutras carved on them. They've been standing like that for hundreds or thousands of years with no apparent change. But, in fact, they're being slowly changed all the time. I think Tibetan areas right now are like that,” he says.

Woven into the film are two love stories that accompany the search for the singer, and often the camera is simply perched in the back of the car, recording as a Tibetan businessman tells of his lost love. The style and pace of the film is idiosyncratic, with shots mostly static and sometimes held for as long as two and a half minutes.

Celebrating Tibetan aesthetic, avoiding controversy

The jury at the Shanghai International Film Festival called The Search the most challenging film they saw — “almost a meditation in patience and an exercise in it.”

Pema Tseden explains.

“It's a traditional Tibetan aesthetic. Tibetan thangkas, or wall hangings, are like that — they're like a panorama. All the story is in one picture. It's very peaceful, but it's very detailed,” he says.

Pema Tsetan's own route to filmmaking was circuitous. He studied Tibetan literature in college and worked first as a primary school teacher in his hometown, and then as a civil servant. Eventually, he returned to school as an older student at China's top film school, the Beijing Film Academy. But he believes it is his experience living and working in Qinghai that has had the greatest influence on his films.

The film and its director tread a delicate tightrope, tiptoeing around controversial political issues. As a Tibetan film, the picture underwent stricter censorship than other Chinese films. It was vetted by the State Administration of Film, Radio and Television, as well as by the Religious Affairs Bureau and the United Front Work Department, which manages relations with ethnic minority groups in China.

The Search is Pema Tsetan's second film; his first, The Silent Holy Stones, won a Golden Rooster, a major Chinese award, in 2005, the year Beijing celebrated 100 years of film.

Multifaceted role as Tibetan auteur

Pema Tsetan is circumspect when asked whether there is a danger of being co-opted by the establishment, only commenting that all those working in film in China must have a clear idea of what they are trying to achieve.

His film was feted as China's first movie made in Tibetan, with a Tibetan director and crew. But he says it's wrong to celebrate this achievement.

“Lots of people asked me if I felt it was a very glorious and very proud moment. But I felt very sad that it's taken 100 years to have a Tibetan film. I'm not proud; I think it's a matter of great sorrow,” he says.

Pema Tsetan is now working to get his films more widely shown in Tibetan areas. He will fund free screenings of his second film for local audiences in the more remote Tibetan regions.

“I think it's important for them to see it,” he says, noting that his showings of his first film were welcomed by Tibetans. “They were very happy to see their everyday life. They felt it was very close.”

But still, he admits, his parents — who keep herds of goats and a few yaks — don't understand what a film director actually does.

At the end of The Search , the film crew finds its singer, a teacher whose government job won't allow him to go home to sing for the traditional festivals. And despite the long search, the film director can't decide whether he is right for the part — a bittersweet conclusion, perhaps reflecting Tibetans' dislocation and doubts about their own identity.

Pema Tseden

Pema Tseden is also known under his Chinese name Wanma Caidan, which he used to credit his previous films. Born in 1969 in the Tibetan province of Amdo , he studied Tibetan language and literature at Northwest University ( China ) and then, from 2003, attended the Beijing Film Academy . He began his literary career in 1991 and published numerous highly successful short stories and novels, which have been translated into several languages. His cinematic career started in 2002 with the short film The Silent Holy Stones (2003) that was followed by The Grassland (2004), both of which won several awards. He next made a documentary, The Last Tibetan Shaman (2004), a feature with the same title as his earlier short, The Silent Holy Stone s (2005), which won prizes at Vancouver , Hong Kong and Shanghai . In 2008 he made two feature films, The Search and Old Dog.

"Dreaming Lhasa" Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam
by indieWIRE (April 6, 2007)

Co-directors Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam 's " Dreaming Lhasa " is the story of a young woman who has grown up in New York and returns to her roots in McLeod Gunj, Dharamsala, home of the exiled Dalai Lama , to make a film about India's Tibetan community. Along with her assistant, a disaffected local youth, she meets an ex-monk who has escaped political imprisonment. Their journey into Tibets' fractured past becomes the young woman's own voyage of self-discovery. "Dreaming Lhasa" screened at the 2005 Toronto Interntional Film Festival as well as the 2006 San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival.

Please introduce yourselves...

Tenzing Sonam: I'm Tibetan born and brought up in exile in India. My partner, Ritu, is Indian. We're currently based in New Delhi, although we lived for many years in the US and then in London. We're married, have two kids, and have been making films together for almost 25 years. We were both students in the Bay Area in the early '80s, Ritu earning her Masters in Film and Video at the California College of the Arts and me at UC Berkeley 's Grad School of Journalism. We were both serious film buffs and spent most of our student days (and nights) hanging out in the Bay Area repertory cinemas. We started out by making a student film--a documentary about the Sikh community in Northern California--which won a few awards and was eventually broadcast on PBS . We moved to London in the late '80s and set up our own company, White Crane Films , and made a number of documentaries, mostly on Tibetan subjects--some of which were commissioned by the BBC . Although we were very much involved in documentaries, our interest in dramatic features was always very strong, and we always wanted to make one ourselves. It took us a long time, but with "Dreaming Lhasa," we finally made this dream come true.

Ritu Sarin: As a teenager, I was living with my family in London. I think I was 14 when I discovered the Everyman Theatre near our home. This was one of the crucial repertory theatres in London at the time. I would just go there on my own and watch films. Among others, I discovered Bergman there. I was completely blown away by the sheer force of cinema and its potential to communicate, while able to transcend boundaries, whether ethnicity or gender.

Are there other aspects of filmmaking that you would still like to explore?

TS: We certainly want to go further with dramatic features, and in fact, are developing a new idea at the moment. We learned a lot while making "Dreaming Lhasa," and we feel this experience will help us with our next feature. At the moment, we're involved in another project that is taking us in a completely new direction: We've been commissioned by TB-A21 Art Contemporary , an art foundation in Vienna, to create a video art installation, and we're very excited by the challenge of working in this new medium. I think there's still so much more to explore and learn.

RS: There remains so much more we would like to do on the creative side--working within documentary, fiction and art, and continuing to explore the relationships between them.

Please talk about how the idea for this film came about.

TS/RS: In 1996, we moved back to India from London and based ourselves in Dharamsala, the headquarters of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile. Part of the reason for moving here was to reconnect with the Tibetan exile world and to think about a feature film that would convey the contemporary reality of Tibet. Living in the West for so many years made us realize that there was a lot misconception about Tibet, particularly its image as a kind of Shangri-La. We understood that this was fuelled partly because although there was a lot of material available about Tibet, very little had actually been generated by Tibetans themselves. We felt that there was a pressing need for Tibetans to start telling their own stories and we wanted to make a feature film that would explore the issues of identity, exile and political aspiration.

The actual germ of the idea for "Dreaming Lhasa" came about while we were working on a BBC-funded documentary film about the CIA's involvement in the Tibetan resistance. We heard the story of how, after the end of the armed movement, one of the CIA-trained resistance fighters had suddenly disappeared without a trace and was never seen again. Thinking about his mysterious fate led to the framework of the story on which "Dreaming Lhasa" evolved.

Please elaborate a bit on your approach to making the film as well as your overall goals for the project.

TS/RS: Coming from a documentary background, authenticity and honesty in the way we tell a story is very important to us. This doesn't mean that our approach has to be literal; but we do need to believe in the subject we are exploring and we need to always question whether we are being true to it or not. Our overall goal for this film is to reach out to as many people as we can. We really feel that the message of Tibet needs to be heard across the world, and hopefully, this film is one small way in realizing that goal.

What were some of the biggest challenges you faced in either developing the project?

RS: It was our first feature, so the entire process was new to us. Of course, having a documentary background did help, as did our familiarity with the subject matter and locations. However, we were working in a bit of a void as there is nothing that comes even close to a Tibetan film industry, and we had to put everything together within a very limited budget. Also, there is no real market within the Tibetan community to support a film, so the financing had to come from outside. After Tenzing wrote the script, it took us many years to get the money. Initially, with [producer] Jeremy Thomas's help, we tried to get money from film companies. We had a few meetings, but when it came down to it, no one wanted to take the risk. We were unknown directors, and not only were there no known stars in our film, they were all non-professionals. We finally managed to get some seed money from Richard Gere, and this helped us get small investments from friends, supporters and family. After the shoot, we managed to raise the rest of the budget from Raj Singh , a California-based entrepreneur who had started a film company, Laxmi Studios .

How did the casting for the film come together?

RS: Since there are no real Tibetan film actors, we had to work with non-professionals. Only Jampa Kalsang , who plays Dhondup, had some acting experience. One of the main challenges was to find the character of Karma, the New York Tibetan. We thought it would be easiest if we could find a Tibetan-American for the role, pretty much playing herself. So, our options were very limited. We put a casting call out on Tibet-related websites and received a few applications. Then, a friend of ours went and did auditions with the best of those candidates. Tenzin Chokyi Gyatso , who finally got the role of Karma, works in a bank near Washington, D.C. She took a few months off and came to India to play the role. In the case of Dhondup, we were already aware of his past work. A friend auditioned him for us and we decided he was the best suited. For Jigme's role, we had hundreds of applicants. We spent a few days auditioning them. As it so happened, we had known Tenzin Jigme , the guy who finally got the role, for years and he kept telling us that he could do it, to just give him a chance.

Who are some of the creative influences that have had the biggest impact on you?

TS: Before I got involved in filmmaking, my strongest creative influences were all literary, and I aspired to be a writer myself. Kerouac , Pablo Neruda and Henry Miller were my heroes. Even today, one of my strongest inspirations comes from the Japanese writer, Haruki Murakami . In cinema, earlier on, I was heavily influenced by the films of Fellini , Tarkovsky , Satyajit Ray , Welles and Wenders , to mention a few. More recently, I have been very impressed by the films of Wong Kar Wai , Pedro Almodovar and Park Chan-Wook .

What other genres or stories would like to explore as a filmmaker?

TS/RS: I think it would be interesting to make a kind of modern supernatural thriller...a contemporary ghost story, perhaps. Our next project is a video art installation on the topic of Tibetan Buddhist debate. After that, we plan to work on another feature film, which we are currently developing.

What is your definition of "independent film," and has that changed at all since you first started working?

TS/RS: The definition of "independent film" lies in the word "independent," i.e. a film where the director has total freedom to do what he or she wants. Along with this is the fact that such films are by necessity, low budget. I also associate "independent films" with the never-ending problem of finding financing and the equally difficult task of getting distribution. And no, none of these have changed since we first started making films.

What are some of your all-time favorite films?

TS: Fellini's " 8 1/2 " is one of my all-time favorites. I think Fellini was a truly humanistic and compassionate filmmaker and in this film, he captured movingly and profoundly the dilemmas and conflicts of striving to be an artist. I love all of Tarkovsky's films, but most especially, "Stalker." I think his influence on cinema has been immense, to the extent that even filmmakers of the MTV generation who may have never seen his films are unconsciously indebted to his style and vision. The early movies of Wim Wenders, were a major influence. I think they captured that sense of exile, restlessness and constant movement between cultures that I could identify with myself.

RS: Welles' " Touch of Evil ," Mizoguchi's " Ugetsu Monagatori ," Renoir's " Rules of the Game ," to name a few. Recently, Michael Haneke's " Cache ," Almodovar's " Volver " and Innaritu's " Babel ."

What are your interests outside of film?

TS: Reading and listening to music. I love music--dub reggae, jazz, electronica, world, indy guitar bands--and derive a lot of pleasure and inspiration from this. That's one reason why "Dreaming Lhasa" has an eclectic collection of music, all the way from dub reggae, Underworld and the Cowboy Junkies to old Bollywood songs and traditional Tibetan music. Our music director, Andy Spence , is currently the guitar player for the up-and-coming British band, New Young Pony Club . But besides these personal interests, I am completely devoted to doing my bit to further the Tibetan cause. I try and keep abreast of developments inside Tibet and also reflect and write about the situation as much as I can.

RS: I have always loved traveling and now that we are a family, when there is no school and we can take some time off, we have many adventures on the road with our two kids! Long road journeys, treks, gatherings with friends. Like Tenzing, the Tibetan cause is also one my overriding concerns.

What general advice would you impart to emerging filmmakers?

TS/RS: Keep true to your vision, be honest in your work, and be prepared to struggle long and hard with very little hope of any reward other than the immense satisfaction of having overcome all odds to realize your dream!

Please share an achievement from your career so far that you are most proud...

TS/RS: Screening "Dreaming Lhasa" at the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley as part of the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival last year was a particularly significant moment for us as this was the place where we had watched so many films as students and first hatched the dream of becoming filmmakers.