DVD: A Gesar Bard's Tale

A Gesar Bard's Tale

A film by Donagh Colemand and Lharigtso, produced by Venla Hellstedt, featuring Dawa Drakpa

Alive Mind Cinema, New York, New York, 2018     81 minutes

One afternoon at thirteen years of age, in the mountains with his yaks, Dawa Drakpa can't help but fall asleep. In a dream he's visited by a white horse, and they travel together through vast grasslands and high mountain peaks. So begins Dawa's transformation from a nomadic herder to a Bard of Tibet's King Gesar.

In 1996 Dawa started performing and recording some of the epics he'd been given for three to ten hours at a time, but faced a setback when his town was devastated by an earthquake. Dawa continues his work and hopes to completely record, during his life, at least 50 of the 170 volumes he's been given.

This documentary is a unique glimpse into the culture of Tibet, and Tibet's oral epics. Tibetan and Chinese with English subtitles. Well worth the effort.

-- submitted by Jennifer Knight

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