Drung at Busan: Tibetan EXILE Cinema on the World Stage
This month, Drung Tibetan Filmmakers Collective represented Tibetan cinema at the 29th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) with the world premiere of State of Statelessness, selected in BIFF’s A Window on Asian Cinema section.
An omnibus feature spanning India, the United States, and Vietnam, State of Statelessness brings together Tibetan diaspora filmmakers to tell four interconnected stories in the Tibetan language. The film explores exile, distance, memory, and the enduring search for home. BIFF’s official program notes frame the film as a work that holds multiple geographies at once, where neither the place one fled nor the place one arrived can fully resolve what “home” means.
BIFF remains one of Asia’s most significant stages for contemporary cinema, and the 2024 edition ran from October 2 to 11 in Busan, bringing together films and filmmakers from across the region and the world. For Drung, being present at BIFF with a Tibetan-language feature is part of a larger commitment to building independent pathways for Tibetan storytellers and ensuring that Tibetan voices are situated within the evolving conversation of world cinema.
As State of Statelessness continues its journey beyond Busan, we carry forward the same intention that shaped the film’s making: to tell our stories with artistic integrity, to deepen the space for Tibetan cinema internationally, and to keep building a future where our narratives travel on our own terms.
