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Screen/Society--Cine-East: East Asian Cinema (Tibet) --"Yartsa Rinpoche: Precious Caterpillar" w/ dir. Dorje Tsering Chenaktsang

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Monday, April 11, 2016
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Introduced by Prof. Ralph Litzinger (Cultural Anthropology); Q&A to follow w/ dir. Dorje Tsering Chenaktsang, moderated by Namgyal Tsepak (Cornell University)!
Cine-East: East Asian Cinema (Tibet)

Film Screening: "Yartsa Rinpoche: Precious Caterpillar" (Dorje Tsering Chenaktsang, 2013, 101 min, China/France, in Tibetan w/ English subtitles, Color, DVD) / "Cordyceps sinensis" (in Tibetan, "Yartsa-gunbu") has been called "Tibet's golden worm" and "The Viagra of the Himalayas." When it was discovered 30 years ago as a natural remedy, it became a boon to Tibetan nomads. Today, some nomadic Tibetan communities bring in as much as 80% of their income collecting it. "Yartsa Rinpoche" follows Darlo, an elder in the Amdo region, who with his family forms a group of 30 that treks 800 kilometers to collect the "worm," while exploring its larger implications. / About the filmmaker: Tibetan poet, writer, and filmmaker of Mongolian ancestry, Dorje Tsering Chenaktsangm, was born in 1963 in Malho (Ch. Henan) Mongol Autonomous County in Qinghai province, a high-altitude grassland area inhabited by Tibetan-speaking communities of Mongolian origin. Jangbu, bilingual and educated in both Tibetan and Chinese, began to write modern style free-verse poetry in Tibetan during the 1980s, and quickly became one of the most prominent poets in Tibet. During the 1990s he started to travel abroad and has taken part in numerous festivals of poetry and film. He has also worked on the production of several documentary films about north-eastern Tibet. / Trailer: https://vimeo.com/103462906 / Co-sponsored by the Office of the Dean of Academic Affairs & Associate Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education.

Contact: Hank Okazaki