SUMMER PASTURE
Dir. Lynn True, Nelson Walker III
2010 | 102 min | USA | Tibetan | Documentary
Synopsis
Summer Pasture is a feature-length documentary about a young nomadic couple living with their infant daughter in the high grasslands of eastern Tibet. Filmed during the summer of 2007 with rare access to an area seldom visited by outsiders, Summer Pasture offers an unprecedented window into a highly insular community and a sensitive portrait of a family at a time of great transition. Locho and his wife Yama live in Dzachukha, eastern Tibet – nicknamed “5-most” by the Chinese for being the highest, coldest, poorest, largest, and most remote area in Sichuan Province, China. They depend on their herd of yaks for survival, just as their ancestors have for generations. In recent years however, Dzachukha has undergone rapid development, which poses unprecedented challenges to nomadic life.
Awards
Truer Than Fiction Award - Film Independent Spirit Awards
Inspiration Award, Honorable Mention - Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
Best Documentary - Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival
John Schlesinger Award - Palm Springs International Film Festival
Visual Achievement Award - San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival
Peabody Award - Peabody Awards