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OLD DOG

(Lao Gou/Khyi Rgan)

Director: 

Pema Tseden

Narrative

2011

|

China

Minutes: 

88

Tibetan w/ English subtitles

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OLD DOG

A family on the Himalayan plains discovers their dog is worth a fortune, but selling it comes at a terrible price.

The Tibetan nomad mastiff is an exotic prize dog in China, fetching as much as millions of dollars from wealthy Chinese. When a young man notices several thefts of mastiffs from Tibetan farm families, he decides to sell his family's dog before it is stolen and sold on the black market. His father, an aging Tibetan herder, is furious when he discovers their dog missing. When the father seeks to buy the dog back, it leads to a series of tragicomic events that threaten to tear the family apart, while showing the erosion of Tibetan culture under the pressures of contemporary society.

Pema Tseden (THE SILENT HOLY STORIES, THE SEARCH) is the leading filmmaker of a newly emerging Tibetan cinema and the first director in China to film his movies entirely in the Tibetan language. His third feature OLD DOG is both a humorous and tragic allegory and a sober depiction of life among the impoverished rural Tibetan community.

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  • Best Narrative Feature, Brooklyn Film Festival

  • Grand Prize, Tokyo FILMeX

  • Audience, Press, and Jury Awards, Cinema Digital Seoul Film Festival

  • Rotterdam International Film Festival

  • Vancouver International Film Festival

  • San Francisco International Film Festival

  • Slamdance Film Festival

"Part neorealistic parable and part Jarmusch-like deadpan riff, Pema Tseden's sublime Tibetan drama focuses on a slackerish young man who decides to sell the family canine for some quick cash."
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TimeOut New York

"Has the look and feel of a documentary, which adds senses of urgency and immediacy to a tale that moves at a languid, but never boring, pace."
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The Village Voice

"A beautiful, highly effective and moving statement about a culture in danger of disappearing."

James Mudge, Beyond Hollywood

"Shows Tibet through Tibetan eyes, as it is lived and experienced by ordinary people"

The Culture Trip

"Tseden's work is remarkable for shedding light on daily life in an oft-mythologized part of the world. In his films, Tibet isn't Shangri-La but neither is it just another part of China."

Steven Erickson, Sight & Sound

"Raw and resolute."
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Jeannette Catsoulis, The New York Times

"Spectacular!"
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Leslie Felperin, Variety

"OLD DOG is subtle and affecting film making."

J. Hoberman, Artinfo

"The most important independent Tibetan filmmaker now working in China."

Shelly Kraicer

"Perfectly incorporates the desolate living conditions of these outpost towns whilst magnificently capturing the majestic Himalayan scenery which surrounds them"

Patrick Gamble, CineVue

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