Pawo
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Pawo |
| Original title | Pawo |
| Country of production | Germany , India |
| original language | Tibetan |
| Publishing year | 2016 |
| length | 119 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Marvin Litwak |
| script | Marvin Litwak |
| production | The Department GmbH & Co.KG, überRot GmbH |
| music | Sebastian Heinrich, JJI Exile Brothers |
| camera | Amin Oussar |
| cut | Fabian Winkelmann |
| occupation | |
| |
Pawo (Tibetan: "Held") is a German-Tibetan independent feature film by Marvin Litwak (production, screenplay, director) and Sonam Tseten (co-director). It is a German-Indian independent no-budget co-production and has won several awards at various film festivals worldwide due to its great political relevance. The film celebrated its world premiere in April 2016 at the renowned Palm Beach International Film Festival (USA).
Synopsis
After the death of his father, the young Tibetan Dorjee realizes what it means to grow up in his own country without language, culture and freedom. Driven by the fear that his father's soul could never be reborn while he is in mourning, he decides to act and is arrested during the last great Tibetan uprising. He has been detained and tortured in a Chinese prison for six months. After being ransomed by his mother, he has to leave his family and his country. After several weeks of walking across the Himalayan mountains, he finally ends up in Tibetan exile in India. Between the narrow streets of the Tibetan enclave in Delhi, he has to choose between a new life imprisoned in exile or the ongoing struggle for freedom in Tibet.
Based on a true story
Pawo is based on the true story of Tibetan Jamphel Yeshi, who set himself on fire in 2012 in protest against the ongoing occupation of Tibet by China during a protest in Delhi, India. Jamphel Yeshi was the first Tibetan to do so in an ongoing wave of self-immolation outside of Tibet. Jamphel Yeshi died on March 29, 2012.
In the meantime, over 150 Tibetans have burned themselves from an act of desperation since 2012.
Background of the film
Director and author Marvin Litwak became aware of the tragic story through the SPIEGEL article “The Last 50 Meters” and flew to India in July 2012 for the first research. There he met the later co-director Sonam Tseten, as well as the lead actor Shavo Dorjee. After another trip with the cameraman Amin Oussar, the first test scenes and a test trailer were created in 2013 with which a crowdfunding campaign was started. The production did not receive any film funding, but they managed to make the film in 2014 with a small team consisting of German, Indian and Tibetan filmmakers. All crew members waived a fee to make this film. The team of just eight filmed over 32 days at over 4500 m altitude in Ladakh and in Tibetan exile in Dharamsala and Delhi.
All actors involved are non-professional.
Prizes and awards
- Best Feature Film - Queens World Film Festival, New York, USA 2017
- Best Cinematography - Queens World Film Festival, New York, USA 2017
- Best International Feature Film - Lums International Film Festival, Pakistan 2017
- Presidents Award - North Carolina Film Award, USA 2017
- Best Feature Film - Mediterranean Int. Cannes Film Festival, France 2016
- Best Feature Film - Top Indie Film Festival, USA 2016
- Best Feature Film - Barcelona Independent Film Festival, Spain 2016
- Platinum Award - Best Cinematography - Independent Film Awards, USA 2016
- Gold Award - Best Score - Independent Film Awards, USA 2016
- Gold Award - Best Feature - Independent Film Awards, USA 2016
- Nominated Best Feature - Palm Beach International Film Festival, USA 2016
- Nominated Best Feature - I Will Tell Int. Film Festival, England 2016
- Nominated Best Feature - Library Int. Film Festival, India 2016
- In Competition - Orlando Film Festival, USA 2016
- In Competition - Corto Creativo Int. Film Festival, Mexico 2016
Web links
Pawo in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ PAWO. Retrieved February 21, 2017 .
- ↑ QWFF Review: "pawo". April 5, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017 .
- ^ Palm Beach International Film Festival. Retrieved February 21, 2017 .
- ↑ SPIEGEL ONLINE, Hamburg, Germany: PROTESTS: The last 50 meters - DER SPIEGEL 26/2012. Retrieved April 7, 2017 .
- ↑ PAWO. Retrieved February 21, 2017 .