BALLAD from TIBET is a story about a group of Tibetan kids embarking on an odyssey, each for a different reason. Thupten, with one eye partially working and the other completely dysfunctional, wants to see the world before his life goes completely dark. Droma, a beautiful weaving girl, wants to prove to her granny that she is more than a weaver by getting into a TV show. Sonam, a blind masseur, is fed up with his boring job. Kalsang, the youngest of them, simply follows others because it sounds terribly fun. With the help of a nomad family, a fleet of bikers, and a TV producer, the band marches to the metropolitan of Shenzhen. Their goal is to sing for everyone through the TV network…
This story started under the blue sky in Tibet. A group of blind children set off for a dream-chasing journey without hesitation. Among four kids, there is only one boy who can see with one eye. Adults’ concerns and worries do not seem exist in their mind. Along the way full of challenges and adventures, they laugh, sing, fight and support each other, and eventually discover their true self and fulfill dreams in Shenzhen.
Lobsang Turpten as Thupten
Yeshi Choedon as Kelsang
Karma Sangmo as Droma
Pama Gumi as Sonam
Sonam Wangdu as Nymda
Huang Hao as Jiang Yichen
Photography by Tang Zhongcai,Hou Peng,Ju Wenyan
Art Direction by Zhao Yu
Editing by Wu Yixiang,Ethan Maniquis, Manuel De Sousa
Screenplay by Chu Zheng,Chen Ruirui,Nyida Tsering,Gregory Marquette,Song Qianyi,Zhao Xu,Qin Ying,Li Dan,Gao Yuanyuan,Zhang Wan,Wang Hailan
Music by Peter Golub
Sound by Gu Changning
Forty years ago, when I was a young boy, I thought that all blind people were fortune tellers. I often saw blind people filing out of their residence in the morning: one led the team by walking in the front and others followed by putting one hand on the shoulder of the person who has gone ahead of him and holding the white cane with the other hand. They all served as fortune tellers in a specific area in the city center. At dusk, they marched back home again. Later on, I moved to a big city, no longer saw blind fortune tellers but found that many blind work as masseur. In 2010, I happened to watch singing performance on a TV talent show by a group of blind students and teachers from Tibet. I was touched and inspired by them. Afterwards, I learned that the prevalence of cataracts in Tibet is the highest in the country due to natural environment factors; Local people think that the blind are punished by heaven. Thus the blind are discriminated or even abandoned in Tibet. I do not see the blind in this way. Instead, I think they are unique with extraordinary capabilities and wonderful stories. After several years’ primary research and preparation, I completed making BALLAD FROM TIBET. I am hopeful that audiences will appreciate not only the beautiful scenes in Tibet but also the innocence, bravery and god-giving singing talent of Tibetan blind children.