Screening on Pema Tseden’s Ballon, followed by a conversation with Shamo Thar, UMass Amherst, and Lauran Hartley, Columbia University.

About the film
This multiple award-winning feature film by Pema Tseden is a drama set on the Tibetan grasslands that explores the clash of modern and traditional values, religious beliefs, and state-imposed family planning laws, as a nomad family faces an unexpected pregnancy. Balloon received nominations at the Venice, Toronto, and Busan International Film Festivals, and was awarded Best Screenplay at the 5th Chicago International Film Festival, Grand Prize winner at the 20th Tokyo Filmex, and Best Film at the 2nd Hainan Island International Film Festival. 

Co-sponsored by Columbia University’s Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, Weatherhead East Asian Institute, C.V. Starr East Asian Library, Modern Tibetan Studies Program, and the Department of Film and Media Studies.