About

'A 10-year-old Buddhist novice nicknamed “Little Lama” returns home from the remote Guwa monastery for the New Year celebration. After a long journey on horseback over icy steppes, he finds himself glued to his family's new TV, watching the popular Chinese television series Journey to the West. Meanwhile, the villagers are rehearsing their annual staging of a traditional Tibetan opera for the New Year. The juxtaposition shows a young monk who finds himself magnetically drawn to the secular world, which calls to him through the TV. The Silent Holy Stones has the immediacy of a documentary, delivering a compelling and intimate insider’s look of everyday life in Tseden's hometown, where traditional life rubs up against modernity and globalization.

The character Little Lama in The Silent Holy Stones was played by a real monk, Luosang Danpai, who later de-robed, got married, and is now living a layperson’s life. Written and directed by Pema Tseden, the film is entirely in the Tibetan language and with nonprofessional Tibetan actors.' Asia Society, New York

Ages 15+