Drung Announces 100 Sunset Director Kunsang Kyirong as Mentor for Filmmaking Mentorship 2026; Applications Now Open
Still from the film 100 Sunset
Director Kusang Kyirong
Drung Tibetan Filmmakers’ Collective is pleased to announce that Tibetan Canadian filmmaker Kunsang Kyirong, director of the recent film 100 Sunset, will serve as the main mentor for the Drung Filmmaking Mentorship 2026. Alongside this announcement, applications for the 2026 mentorship program are now open.
The Drung Filmmaking Mentorship supports emerging Tibetan filmmakers from the Indian Subcontinent, offering guidance as they develop and complete a short film of 10 minutes or less. Selected participants work closely with an experienced filmmaker through different stages of the creative process—from developing an idea and writing, to shooting, editing, and completing their films.
Kunsang Kyirong is a Tibetan Canadian filmmaker and artist born in Vancouver. She studied at Emily Carr University of Art + Design and later pursued graduate studies in film production at York University. Her work often blends documentary sensibilities with fiction and explores themes of migration, identity, and the everyday lives of Tibetan diaspora communities. Her debut feature 100 Sunset (2025) premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it received an Honourable Mention for the Best Canadian Discovery Award. Set within Toronto’s Tibetan community in the Parkdale neighborhood, the film offers a quiet and layered portrait of life in the diaspora through the story of a young woman navigating friendship, belonging, and observation within her community.
Before making her first feature, Kyirong directed several short films including Yarlung (2020) and Dhulpa (2022), which were screened at international festivals and exhibitions, and her work has also been presented at institutions such as the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art and the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. She currently lives and works in Montreal.
Through the mentorship, participants will engage with Kyirong in a series of online sessions and receive guidance while developing and completing their films.
In previous years, the mentorship program has connected young Tibetan filmmakers with mentors including Hiroshi Sunairi (From Okinawa with Love, How far am I, 48 years – Silent Dictator), Kim Kyungmook (Stateless Things. Futureless Things. Faceless Things), Dechen Roder (I.the Song, Honeygiver Among the dogs), Tashi Gyaltshen, (The Red Phallus), Kesang Tseten (Who Will Be a Gurkha), and Tsering Rhither Sherpa (Uma, The Spirit Doesn’t Come Anymore), helping participants develop their storytelling practice and complete their short films.
This mentorship is made possible with support from The Tibet Fund.
Applications for the Drung Filmmaking Mentorship 2026 are now open.
More information about the program and the application process can be found here:
https://www.drung.in/mentorship
Drung encourages interested applicants to apply and invites members of the community to share
this opportunity with young Tibetan filmmakers.
