Royal Cafe

Directed by Tenzin Dazel
2016
40 minutes

Post-screening discussant: Debashree Mukherjee, Assistant Professor in the Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies, and the Center for Comparative Media, Columbia University

Written and directed by Tenzin Dazel, one of the few Tibetan women filmmakers working today, this film explores the lives of Tibetan exiles in Paris, dreaming, planning, reflecting alone and with each other at a coffee house called Royal Cafe. One of the few Tibetan women filmmakers, Tenzin Dazel’s characters are “far from the usual Tibetan stereotypes and reveals them as simply men and women all married by their own desires, disappointments, and loneliness.”

Filmmaker bio: Tenzin Dazel was born in India & schooled in TCV, Upper Dharamsala. She obtained her Masters in Fashion in Paris – Institute Français de la Mode & worked as a designer for a few major brands. She made her first short film Seeds in 2009, followed by her longer short film Royal Cafe in 2016. She is right now working on her first feature film, Dharamsala.

Tenzin Dazel will offer a “sneak peek” of her forthcoming feature film, Dharamsala, and discuss the special challenges and opportunities of filmmaking in Tibetan diaspora communities and locations.

Feature Film Preview: Dharamsala and Filmmaking in the Diaspora. 20 minutes

This screening is a part of:

LEGACIES: Pema Tseden & New Tibetan Cinema Series Finale—Films by the Next Generation

This weekend program is the finale of a year-long tribute series entitled, “LEGACIES: Pema Tseden & New Tibetan Cinema,” co-sponsored by Columbia University’s Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, Weatherhead East Asian Institute, C.V. Starr East Asian Library, Modern Tibetan Studies Program, and Department of Film and Media Studies. Pema Tseden (1969-2023) was a pioneer of the Tibetan New Wave cinema and inspired a new generation of Tibetan filmmakers.