“[An] affecting look at a Chinese Tibetan herder’s family via the daughter’s eyes…movingly handled” – Film Business Asia
Set against the changing seasons of the breathtaking Tibetan grasslands, River is told through cheeky little Yangchen who travels with her father to visit her sickly grandfather, a holy-man-come-hermit. While her father’s strained relationship with the old man bears much of the film’s drama, it is non-professional child-actor Yangchan Lhamu’s marvellously expressive face that captivates.
River received the APSA Academy Children’s Film Fund in 2011 and premiered at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival. The APSA Ceremony in 2011 was also where director Sonthar Gyal met Brisbane-based Tibetan musician Tenzin Choegyal, who went on to contribute to the film’s end credits and will perform live at the BAPFF Special Presentation screening.
