# Pema Tseden

Pema Tseden (Tibetan: པད་མ་ཚེ་བརྟན།, Wylie: pad ma tshe brtan), also called Wanma Caidan (simplified Chinese: 万玛才旦; traditional Chinese: 萬瑪才旦; pinyin: Wàn mǎ cái dàn; December 1969 – 8 May 2023) was a Chinese Tibetan film director and screenwriter. He was a professor at the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou and a member of the Film Directors Guild of China, China Film Association, and Chinese Film Literature Association. He is known for making many films entirely in Tibetan language and presenting a more realistic depiction of Tibetan life as opposed to the exoticism often associated with the region.

## Biography
### Early life and education

Pema Tseden was born into a pastoral family, in Guide County, Qinghai, in December 1969, during the Cultural Revolution. He was raised by his grandfather, who was a monk. He was the only one of three siblings to have finished school. He graduated from Northwest University for Nationalities, where he majored in Tibetan Language and Literature. After graduation, he worked as a primary school teacher and a civil servant. Then he pursued advanced studies at China's most prestigious film school, Beijing Film Academy, where he became the Academy's first-ever Tibetan student.

### Career

Pema Tseden's debut work, The Silent Holy Stones, won the Best Directorial Debut at the 25th Golden Rooster Awards, Asian New Talent Award for Best Director at the 9th Shanghai International Film Festival, Special Jury Award at the 8th Changchun Film Festival, and Best First Feature at the 13th Beijing College Student Film Festival.
In 2009, Soul Searching won the Special Jury Award at the 12th Shanghai International Film Festival and was nominated for Golden Goblet Award.
Tharlo, a film adaptation based on the novel of the same name by himself, won the Best Adapted Screenplay at the 52nd Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards, also prizes in the 23rd Beijing College Student Film Festival, and the film was nominated for Golden Lion at the 72nd Venice International Film Festival.
In June 2016, Pema Tseden was detained by police after attempting to re-enter the baggage claim area at Xining airport to retrieve one of his luggage. The police said he refused to cooperate and suffered three cuts where the handcuff dug into his skin. His colleagues reported that during the scuffle, he was grabbed by the hair and suffered many bruises, after which he was interrogated all night. On Saturday, he was ordered to serve administrative detention but was hospitalized the following Monday after experiencing headaches, chest pains, and high blood sugar. Wang Lei, media director for Tharlo, said Pema Tseden had diabetes and was not able to medicate normally during detention. The Film Directors Guild of China issued a statement calling for an investigation into whether the police had used excessive force.
Pema Tseden was the first filmmaker in greater China to make films entirely in Tibetan language. He was known for his realistic portrayal of modern Tibetans, compared to the more mystical depictions often associated with the region.
   Filmmakers are starting to more accurately capture the essence of life in Tibet. They are starting to let go of the old stereotypes.

### Death

Pema Tseden died from heart failure on 8 May 2023, at the age of 53. He was about to finish the ninth film that would have been both written and directed by himself. He had a son.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | English title | Tibetan title | Chinese title | Director |
| 2002 | The Silent Holy Stones | ལྷང་འཇགས་ཀྱི་མ་ཎི་རྡོ་འབུམ། | 静静的嘛呢石 | Director |
| 2004 | The Grassland | རྩྭ་ཐང་། | 草原 | Director |
| 2004 | The Weatherman's Legacy | | 最后的防雹师 | Director |
| 2005 | The Last Hail Suppresso | | 末代防雹师 | Director |
| 2007 | Soul Searching (or The Search) | འཚོལ། | 寻找智美更登 | Director |
| 2007 | | | 嘎陀大法会 | Director |
| 2007 | | | 桑耶寺 | Director |
| 2011 | Old Dog | ཁྱི་རྒན། | 老狗 | Director |
| 2009 | Flares Wafting in 1983 | | 喇叭裤飘荡在1983 | Director |
| 2014 | The Sacred Arrow | གཡང་མདའ། | 五彩神箭 | Director |
| 2015 | Tharlo | ཐར་ལོ། | 塔洛 | Director |
| 2017 | My Little Lama | ངའི་བཙུན་ཆུང་།། | 我的小喇嘛 | Director |
| 2018 | Jinpa | ལག་དམར། | 撞死了一只羊 | Director |
| 2019 | Balloon | དབུགས་ལྒང་། | 气球 | Director |
| 2020 | Cordyceps | | 冬虫夏草 | Director |
| 2020 | Singer | གླུ་པ། | | Screen writer |
| 2022 | Eternal Day | | 永恒的一天 | Director |
| 2022 | Strangers | | | Director |
| 2023 | Seventeen Mile | | 十七英里 | Director |
| 2023 | Snow Leopard | གངས་གཟིག | 雪豹 | Director |
| 2024 | Have a nice trip | འགྲུལ་ལམ་བདེ་མོ། | 祝你旅途愉快 | Director |