And if what is of earth forgets you,

Say to that earth of silence: I flow.

Say to the rushing waters: I am.

-Rainer Maria Rilke

On the early morning of May 8, 2023 (GMT+8), Pema Tseden, the famous Chinese director, scriptwriter, writer, and professor at the School of Film Art, China Academy of Art (CAA), passed away due to illness in Tibet. All CAA teachers and students mourned his passing with deep sorrow.

Born in December 1969 in Guide County, Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, Pema Tseden was a renowned film director, outstanding scriptwriter, and accomplished writer. He published several collections of Tibetan and Chinese novels, including Temptation, Orgyan's Teeth, and A Half-Told Story. He directed notable films such as The Silent Holy Stones, Soul Searching, Old Dog, Thario, Jinpa, and Balloon. Mr. Pema received numerous awards for his works, including the Best Screenplay Award at the Venice International Film Festival, Best Film Award at the Brooklyn Film Festival, Golden Horse Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and Golden Rooster Award for Best Film. He was an artist of excellence and a high reputation, as well as the most influential Tibetan filmmaker in the world.

Pema Tseden stayed active in the film sector for twenty years and joined CAA three years ago as a professor and doctoral advisor of the School of Film Art. More than once he said, "This is an honorable and precious job. The campus is full of vitality. As I enter this beautiful campus, I can feel a unique artistic and humanistic atmosphere. Teaching keeps me young and infuses vitality into my creative works. My wish for the past few years has been to impart my knowledge and experiences to more young creators. Helping them grow makes me delighted." The shared interests and beliefs in filmmaking connected Mr. Pema and CAA, and together we built a poetic world of Chinese films. With his extensive knowledge, remarkable insights, and compassion, he opened new horizons for education and creation at the School of Film Art. His departure has left all of us at CAA deeply saddened.

Movies Whispered to Him

Mr. Pema once reminisced about his childhood: When grazing on the plateau, he loved to lie on the grass, listening to the movies broadcasted on the radio, one after another, intermittently and repeatedly. Movies whispered to him. He gained an initial understanding of movies with his ears but not with his eyes. Before locking onto the "skin" of movies with his eyes, he touched its "soul" with its ears. With delicate ears, Tseden tried to receive the secret sounds, as faint as the sounds of fireflies, from the invisible distance. On the vast grassland, the Earth constantly swallowed up those sounds. He said that the sounds were ephemeral, so every moment required high concentration to imagine the scenes behind those sounds that his initial movie creation originated from. Compared to images, the sound is the more profound and ethereal part of films, just like the peaceful and tranquil light deeply hidden inside Tseden.

On the grassland, under the sky, the movie sounds from the radio, along with those faint and elusive imaginations and memories, traveled from his childhood to his films, and finally to the other end of the screen, for immersion in the countless unfamiliar minds blooming in the darkness.

The Dust Swirling in the Tibetan Plateau

In Mr. Pema's films, there exists many extreme opposites such as eternity vs transience, spirituality vs worldliness, silence vs noise, and boundlessness vs narrowness... At the intersection of Tibetan and Han cultures, these contradicting yet interdependent oppositions are vivid and heavy, stemming from his genuine experience of the sluggish reality and his deep love for the vast wilderness and sky.

He once said, "Most often, I just present all these as a sober observer, but it's hard to change them." The characters in his films are often "outcasts," torn apart between traditional customs and current reality, showing the emptiness of the plateau, vast and lonely, silent, and confused. His narrative gives birth to two opposing forces that reject human survival, as if being torn apart in silence – with nature, with history, with society, with memory, and with self. He gazed at everything he loved long through his camera, soothing the anguish and fragility of lives with his serene and peaceful gaze.

Eventually, the boy lying on the grassland listening to the radio, the body that was soaked in the vastness of the sky and the tranquility of the earth, returned to the Tibetan land as swirling dust – death was the panoramic view given to him by this land, overlooking him from high above.

Deep and Distant Silence

Mr. Pema was humble, serene, and devoid of hypocrisy and fickleness – much like the words in his novels. His unique temperament left a deep impression on everyone that met him – calm and peaceful, yet steady and dignified. His restraint and humility are like the silent river flowing on the grassland.

Mr. Pema’s ethnic identity is often highlighted, but identity is merely a symbol for easy labeling and classification. Just as a Chinese poet wrote while traveling by Qinghai Lake, Tseden's hometown, "Ethnicity and homeland identified as one was born, accidental but then habitual and claimed as fate... But aren't we all part of an unnamed ethnicity? As I wander in and out of the ever-changing city streets, within me naturally resides the icebergs, deserts and beasts, temples, reconciliations, and dreams." As a director and writer, Tseden surpassed the struggles of identity recognition and truly returned to himself, feeling and understanding this mercurial and everlasting world from his unique spiritual standpoint; thus, he entered his most creative years, producing almost one film every year and a novel every few months.

Colleagues once visited Tseden at the shooting site of his new film Strangers, and they were amazed at the tranquility and peace there. It was a calm environment rarely seen in the film industry, where everyone speaks in hushed tones and everything runs in perfect order. Like an elder in the village who understands the rules of the world, Tseden was certain of what his next shot should be. The entire filming process was natural, like the passing of time and the growth of grasses.

During his time at CAA, strolling, creating, writing, and teaching became his daily routine, and his composed demeanor, calm tone, and humble smiles became a regular sight for students and teachers. Indeed, everything had become customary, until we received the news from the snowy plateau.

The story is only half told, for it happened on an eternal day. The wanderer returned to his homeland, and his soul returned to the land, leaving behind a deep and distant silence he created for the world.

Mr. Pema has left us. May he rest in peace.