The Red Phallus
Fiction by Tashi Gyeltshen,
Bhutan, Nepal, Germany, 2018, 85 min.
Different realities.
Or. Perhaps.
We all live in one reality. But.
Different stories.
And. In between. There is just a mask.
In the gloomy and remote valley of Phobjika in central Bhutan, Sangay, a 16- year-old girl lives with her widower father, Ap Atsara, a popular craftsman who is specialized in making wooden phalluses. He has also been playing the role of an atsara (a clown) in the annual tsechu (festival) for the last twenty years. Now, he wants to retire and pass on the mask to a younger talent.
But, a dark secret from the past unfolds. And in the convoluted world of phalluses and masks, Sangay struggles to find congruence between her inner world and the outer relationships. She gets lost in the haunting and beautiful landscape of Phobjikha in search of who she wants to become.
Instead, she finds a mask. And behind it, her world.
- Script / Director:
- Tashi Gyeltshen
- Cast:
- Tshering Euden, Singye, Dorji Gyeltshen, Choten Wangchuk
- Dop:
- Jigme T. Tenzing
- Editing:
- Saman Alvitigala
- Sound Design:
- Niraj Gera
- Music:
- Jigme Drukpa, Frances-Marie Uitti
- Sound Mixer:
- Mickey Macachor
- Colorist:
- Sidharth Meer
- Producers:
- Tashi Gyeltshen, Kristina Konrad, Ram Krishna Pokharel
- Production:
- Studio 108 Co-production:
- weltfilm Berlin
- Icefall Productions
- Zoom Out productions
- International Sales:
- Asian Shadows
Festivals:
- Busan IFF 2018, New Currents
- International Film Festival of Kerala 2018
- Berlinale 2019, Generation 14plus Competition
- Busan IFF 2018
FIPRESCI Award
Supported by:
Locarno Open Doors
Visions SudEst
DEZA Switzerland
HAF Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum
Bhutan Film Trust