synopsis - Life Among the People of Choni

(China/2008/Director: Yongdrol.K.Tsongkha, Don Sonam Dorje/110 min/documentary)

Language: Mandarin + English Subtitle 

Choni is a beautiful place on the north-eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. Still rarely known to the western world, it was a Tibetan Principality with over 500 years of history and a vital cultural centre on the Chinese-Tibetan Borderlands. Eighty years ago, Joseph Francis Rock (1884-1962), one of the last classic explorers, geographer, linguist and botanist, set foot on the Tibetan Plateau, embarking on his extensive expeditions in this area. His remarkable article in National Geographic in 1928, "Life Among the Lamas of Choni," was the first written piece to vividly reveal to the world the mysteries of the religious festivals in Tibetan monasteries. His works and studies were testimony to a lost culture and tradition. His extraordinary visual materials of the Chinese-Tibetan borderlands and its people is unique and remains invaluable to the history of this region. Beyond this, the man is a fascinating character and his personal papers are rich in the texture and personality of their author. 

Eighty years later, this carefully crafted documentary follows in the footsteps of this legendary explorer. By blending over 500 original photographs from Rock's expeditions with modern images, and by weaving an extensively research chronology via narration and excerpts from his dairies, the film not only shows how eastern Tibet looked in the 1920s, but also portrays how the same places and people look now. It is a memorial meeting of the east and west, a long lasting dialogue between the past and the present.

發現卓尼

(中國/2008/導演: 宗喀.漾正冈布， 妥超群 /110分鐘/紀錄片)

普通話＋英文字幕 

這是一部奇妙的有關西藏歷史文化的紀錄片。卓尼地處西藏高原東麓，過去曾是漢藏交界的文化要地，一個曾經有著500年歷史的由世襲的政教國王統治的王國。80年前，美籍奥地利裔探险家，植物学家约瑟夫·洛克來到這裡進行考察，開始了他長達兩年孤獨自由的暢遊，足跡遍佈安多藏區的許多高山峽谷。在這次考察中，洛克將西藏地區豐富的動植物資源介紹到西方，購買了卓尼版大藏經。他觀看西藏法舞的經歷堪稱奇特，與卓尼土司的友好情意更令人回味。 

80年後，西藏學者宗喀.漾正冈布重新走訪洛克当年的探險路線。影片穿插了哈佛大學圖書館等機構收藏的500多張歷史照片，引用洛克考察的原稿，日記，信件，採訪了10幾位當地的知情人和見證人，拍攝範圍涵蓋了卓尼，青海湖，祁連山等地區，意圖呈現在80年的時空交錯中，歷史與現代兩種不同的生命體驗，同時，將安多藏區瑰麗的自然生態，多彩的民族文化和絢爛的歷史展示給世界。