173 Richardson Street, Brooklyn, NY USA Office: Fax: Web:

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1 a film by TIAN TSERING 2017 / 115 min / UK, India / Tibetan / Drama Sales Contact: 173 Richardson Street, Brooklyn, NY USA Office: Fax: info@visitfilms.com Web:

2 LOGLINE In the remote mountains of Tibet, a teenage girl must choose between supporting her family after her father s political imprisonment or joining a group of oppressed nuns on their journey to freedom. SYNOPSIS Sixteen-year-old Pema lives in the remote mountains of Tibet. For generations, her family has farmed their barley fields in peace. But when the Chinese authorities take Pema s father away, her world is shattered. A Buddhist nun from the local nunnery walks into Pema s life and invites her to join a group of locals escaping Chinese persecution by walking over the Himalayas and into India. Pema is torn: Can she leave her mother, grandmother, and younger siblings at her time of crisis? Does she have the right - or the courage - to join her friend and seek a new life for herself? As Pema struggles with this dilemma, there is no news about her imprisoned father. The clock is ticking, for everyone. Told through the eyes of a teenage girl, Barley Fields On The Other Side Of The Mountain is a film about the price of freedom and who pays for it. Shot entirely on location in the Himalayas with a non-professional cast, it is directed by a Chinese filmmaker determined to give a voice to the oppressed people of Tibet through a universal story about the love of parents for their children.

3 BACKGROUND Since the 1950s, hundreds of thousands of ordinary Tibetans have fled their country on an arduous and deadly journey across the Himalayas because of China s oppressive control over Tibet. Many of the refugees are children sent away by their parents, knowing that they will probably never see them again. The Chinese border police have arrested many refugees during their migration attempts. On September 30, 2006, gunshots echoed through the thin air on the Cho Oyu mountain: Chinese border police opened fire at a group of Tibetan refugees who were attempting to cross the mountain pass into Nepal. Kelsang Namtso, a 17-year-old Tibetan nun, was brutally shot to death in the encounter. The film touches on the very sensitive topic that has often been hidden, censored, and forbidden to discuss for decades. Outsiders rarely get a chance to understand Tibet and how the majority of Tibetan people live under Chinese rule. However, the film is not about politics. Instead, the focus is always on humanity - a teenage girl s journey to choose her future in a family drama that depicts the universal topics of love and sacrifice. It is a film about faith shared by people from this faraway and forgotten society where traditions clash with modern values. It takes courage to make a film like this in the current political and economic environment, but the filmmakers refuse to stay silent and are determined to speak the truth, simply because they believe the story of these people will move the audience the same way it moved them.

4 DIRECTOR S NOTES It all started in 2010, when I was travelling in one of the most remote regions in the Himalayan mountains of northern India and documenting local people s lives with my camera. I immediately fell in love with the place and its people. The place bore such an incredible resemblance to Tibet, where I visited as a child, that I was intensely motivated to make a film there. It took me five years,to prep the film (writing, location scouting, casting, fundraising, etc.) before we finally shot the film in Due to limited resources and the subject matter, the preparations required a more personal approach, where I travelled along the Himalayas in India and Nepal over and over again. My different visits took me through all kinds of villages, monasteries, and nunneries, where I did extensive research for stories and characters. The casting for the film started in May I insisted on finding an entire non-professional cast, and it took me over a year to finalize the main cast. The actresses who played Pema, Mother, and Grandmother had the real life experiences of crossing the Himalayas from Tibet to find refuge in India. The actors who played Father and younger sister were both born and raised in the Tibetan refugee settlements in India. When it came to the nun s character, it became even trickier in finding the right cast. I visited every single nunnery that follows Tibetan Buddhist traditions in the entire region to find the perfect actor. After a year of searching, the effort finally paid off when I found Jamyang Choezom, who has become the first Buddhist nun to play a main role in cinema. I hope the portrait of the nun s character in the film can be a tribute to the late nun Kelsang Namtso. In terms of style, I m a great believer in the simplicity of storytelling. The camera is exclusively still. The cinematography of the film is hidden and observational, almost like a documentary. The camera and lighting style give the characters space and freedom to perform without interruption or distraction. The style of the film also frees the audience from obvious storytelling and lets them observe and interpret. It echoes the philosophy of being truthful to the story and its characters. The simple style also allowed the cast of real people to trigger emotions that were undiscovered or buried for years. When real emotions and feelings are unleashed, what we see on screen can be powerful. - Tian Tsering

5 TIAN TSERING DIRECTOR / CO-WRITER Born and raised in China, Tian Tsering enrolled in the MA Filmmaking at the London Film School in 2012 where he specialised in Cinematography. He has since shot a numbers of short films that have circulated in film festivals worldwide. Barley Fields On The Other Side Of The Mountain is Tian s directorial debut feature film which has taken him 7 years to complete. CAST TSERING CHOEKYI Pema PEMA CHOKEY Mother SAMTEN DHONDUP Father JAMYANG CHOEZOM Choeden

6 CREW JIGMET WANGCHUK // CINEMATOGRAPHER Jigmet Wangchuk left his native place Ladakh, to study fine arts at Delhi College of Art. He then studied motion picture photography at Film & Television Institute of India, Pune, where he won the Kodak Film School Cinematography National Competition for his diploma film. He assisted several prominent cinematographers in Hindi, Marathi, Telugu and Kannada films. He has shot several commercials, short films, documentaries, and music videos. Barley Fields on the Other Side of the Mountain is his first feature film as director of photography. SOFIA BOST // EDITOR After studying in Lisbon, Sofia moved to the UK in 2012 for an MA in Filmmaking. At the London Film School, she edited fiction shorts that made the international festival circuit. Barley Fields on the Other Side of the Mountain is the first feature project she has worked on. JASMIN KENT RODGMAN // COMPOSER Jasmin Kent Rodgman is a British-Malaysian composer and multi-instrumentalist from London, with a focus on cross-arts collaboration and interaction. Her film and moving image scores have been supported by partners such as the BFI.Network, Film London, Arts Council England and Screen Australia; and her live performance work has been performed at Grimeborn Opera Festival, Secret Garden Party Festival, and various theatres and galleries across London including The Barbican, the Arcola Theatre and Debut Contemporary Gallery. Her work celebrates identity and social engagement. Drawing inspiration from and engaging with diverse communities, her music is explorative and plays with a sense of the narrative. Recent projects include scoring for The Story of Looking, a VR film centred on filmmaker Mark Cousins latest book by the same name; transmedia LGBT project The Book of Gabrielle, directed by Lisa Gornick; feature film Barley Fields On The Other Side of the Mountain, directed by Tian Tsering; Recitations for violin and loop pedal, influenced by Carnatic violin traditions; and digital arts and sports project Newmarket Kite Symphony. Jasmin is also currently working with the London Symphony Orchestra as a Jerwood Composer for their 2017/18 programme. ANIA PRZYGODA // SOUND EDITOR Ania Przygoda is an award-winning sound editor. She won Best Sound Designer at Underwire Film Festival 2014 and was nominated for the prestigious Verna Fields Golden Reel, awarded by Motion Picture Sound Editors association in Los Angeles. In 2014, she was selected for Berlinale Talents. Her recent feature, I Am Not A Witch, was in Directors Fortnight at Cannes Film Festival, and a feature documentary, Almost Heaven, had its world premiere in the Official Selection at Berlinale In 2015, the feature film Pikadero, premiered in New Directors competition at San Sebastián International Film Festival. Previously, Ania s films have won BAFTA Cymru 2015, Palme d Or in Cannes 2014, Golden Leopard at Locarno Film Festival and San Sebastián International Film Festival 2012, Grand Prix at Tampere Film Festival, Royal Television Society Award in 2013, Golden Mikeldi at ZINEBI Bilbao, Grand Jury Prize at Lille Festival du Cinéma Européen, Best Film at Bogota Short Film Festival, Best UK Short at London Short Film Festival, Grand Prix in Shorts Asia in Tokyo and Huesca.

7 FULL CAST Pema Mother Father Choeden Grandmother Karma Village women Village men Police officer Sonam Jamming Tsering Choekyi Pema Chokey Samten Dhondup Jamyang Choezom Ngawang Dolma Yeshi Tsomo Bhuti Kalsang Chhunit Tenzin Tseten Tseten Wangchuk Chhering Norbu Ngawang Lhadron Tenzin Dhondup CREW Director Writers Producers Executive Producers Director of Photography Editor Assistant Director Costume by Music by Sound Editor 2nd Assistant Director Line Producer Production Manager Script Consultant Dialogue Translation Dialect Coaches Associate Cinematographer /Focus Puller Camera Assistants Gaffer Sparks Tian Tsering Tian Tsering Beru Tessema Tian Tsering Rahul Ravindran Bhuyang Britt Harrison Tarun Revoo Jigment Wangchuk Sofia Bost Veer Singh Parmar Aishwarya Shree Sharma Pritha Rajyashree Sharma Jasmin Kent Rodgman Ania Przygoda Kashif Rizwan Khan Kushagra Kulshrestha Sanchit Kalra Britt Harrison Kaytsi Tenzin Tseten Kaytsi Rangoli Agarwal Varun Kumar Gyan Thakur Bhagat Singh Daleep Singh Bora Ajay Prem Singh Jitendra Kumar

8 Art Director Art Assistants Costume Assistant/Tailor Hair & Make-up Production Coordinators Production Assistants Accountant Still Photographer Catering Drivers Radio Attendant Foley Artist Additional Dialogue Editor Location Sound Recordist Percussion/Dramyin Traditional Dramyin Cello Violin Flute Score Recordist/Mixer Dubbing Mixer Post Producer Colourists VFX Artist Titles/Credits Online Editors Pankaj Sharma Babloo Saifi Deepak Pandey Vishaw Nath Mourya Md. Shafi Anil Nagar Wasim Khan Ishita Khanna Chhering Norbu Tsering Bodh Punjab Singh Sehdev Captainâ Prasad Amit Kumar Namdol Gyalson Tashi Wangyal Tseten Namgyal Sonam Angroop Dorje Deepak Mishra Tenzin Namdol Sumeet Tyagi Rahul Aggarwal Dusmesh Govind Singh Bombaya Lokesh Kapil Dhama Nandlal Rajkumar Ravinder Singh Dinesh Kumar Peter Warnock Maiken Hansen Pushpendra Kumar Jasmin Kent Rodgman Ngawang Alice Purton Tom Crehan Jenni Hogan Ed Rousseau Ania Przygoda Laura Smith George Dutton Andy Lee Tudor Colac Agnieszka Owczarek Chris Young Matthew Pamplin

9 THIS FILM IS MADE POSSIBLE BY SPECIAL THANKS TO Pratyusha Gupta Spiti Ecosphere Sakya Abode Pema Samdup Ani Dawa Kye Monastery Tsechen Choeling Nunnery Tengon Lhundrub Tse Monastery Pal Karze Tengon Lhundrub Choekhor Ling Monastery Asawari Jagushte Jamyang Ngawang Tsultrim Dorjee Agnieszka Owczarek Pedro Jorge Chun-Yi Li Cale Epps Radu Ghelbereu Alexandra Curcuta Maria Loyter Sofia Safonova Francisco Neffe Durà o Daniel Michalos Joshua Benson Gonà alo Almeida Laura Spini Laurence Brook Richard Kwietniowski Matt Kelly Tashi Phuntsok Shanker Raman Rohit Nair Surya Singh Varun Verma Lobsang Bodh Kunga Jordan Chhering Bodh Bigyna Dahal Laurijn Coraij Kate Saunders Eli Wakamatsu Dechen Pemba Tenzin Wangdu Ashley Luke Eve Schoukroun Tine Klint Wendy Mitchell Tashi Chime Gatsal Nunnery Himalayan Guge Organisation

10 SPECIAL THANKS TO (cont.) Himalayan Guge Organisation Sapan Foundation Munsel-Ling School Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts Onsight Post Production Services British Council British Film Institute and the people of Spiti