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The Red Phallus © Tashi Gyeltshen

The Red Phallus

Fiction by Tashi Gyeltshen, Bhutan, Nepal, Germany, 2018, 85 min.

We all live in one story. But.
Different realities.

Or. Perhaps.

We all live in one reality. But.
Different stories.

And. In between. There is just a mask.

In the gloomy and remote valley of Phobjika in central Bhutan, Sangay, a 16-­ year-­old girl lives with her widower father, Ap Atsara, a popular craftsman who is specialized in making wooden phalluses. He has also been playing the role of an atsara (a clown) in the annual tsechu (festival) for the last twenty years. Now, he wants to retire and pass on the mask to a younger talent.

But, a dark secret from the past unfolds. And in the convoluted world of phalluses and masks, Sangay struggles to find congruence between her inner world and the outer relationships. She gets lost in the haunting and beautiful landscape of Phobjikha in search of who she wants to become.

Instead, she finds a mask. And behind it, her world.

Script / Director:
            Tashi Gyeltshen
Cast:
Tshering Euden, Singye, Dorji Gyeltshen, Choten Wangchuk
Dop:
Jigme T. Tenzing 
Editing:
Saman Alvitigala 
Sound Design:
Niraj Gera 
Music:
Jigme Drukpa, Frances-Marie Uitti 
Sound Mixer:
Mickey Macachor 
Colorist:
Sidharth Meer 
Producers:
Tashi Gyeltshen, Kristina Konrad, Ram Krishna Pokharel 
Production:
Studio 108
Co-production:
weltfilm Berlin
Icefall Productions
Zoom Out productions
International Sales:
Asian Shadows

Festivals:

- Busan IFF 2018, New Currents

- International Film Festival of Kerala 2018

- Berlinale 2019, Generation 14plus Competition

 

- Busan IFF 2018 

           FIPRESCI Award

Supported by:

Locarno Open Doors

Visions SudEst

DEZA Switzerland

HAF Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum

Bhutan Film Trust

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