ABOUT TIBET FILM FESTIVAL INDIA
Tibet Film Festival India was born with the deep desire to honour the great courage shown by Dhondup Wangchen and Golog Jigme in the making of their powerful documentary ‘Leaving Fear Behind’ (2008). It is this intention of cultivating a space and platform for Tibetans to tell their stories and voice their perspectives through film that brought Tseten and Nyima Alleman to Dharamshala in 2011 to organize the first edition of Tibet Film Festival in India.
From the beginning, TFF India has kept a strong focus on nurturing film expression and the appreciation of wider arts at its editions over the years. From live performances by emerging and established Tibetan musicians, to art exhibitions platforming upcoming Tibetan multimedia artists and photographers, filmmaking workshops at Tibetan schools and discussions on film appreciation, TFF India has become a beloved community space for Tibetans young and old to immerse themselves in the vivid world of Tibetan storytelling.
The Short Film Competition, a core component of our program, has especially become a jumping pad for aspiring Tibetan filmmakers. Submissions from Tibetan refugee settlements across India have gained wide audience appreciation, and consistently won the Jury or one of the Audience Awards over the years. Many of these filmmakers have gone on to pursue careers in the film and art industry, expanding the small but steady Tibetan film ecosystem.
Since 2012, Tibet Film Festival India has been entirely volunteer-run and organised, spearheaded by Tenzin Dhondup (Anto) and Jyotsna Sara George. We are grateful to the many many volunteers from across the Tibetan community who have supported us through their time, resources, access, skills and monetary contributions. TFF India truly is a community-facing festival, built by the community!
We share below a few highlights from Tibet Film Festival India over the years!
Screening of BRINGING TIBET HOME at the Upper TCV School, Dharamshala.
Tibet film festival India, SEPTEMBer 2025
We curated a special program of films and discussions at the first-of-its-kind Tibetan Youth Festival which took place in Dharamsala from 11- 12 September, 2025 at Upper TCV School.
See our programme highlights here: https://www.tibetfilmfestival.org/dharamsala2025
Art and Culture
Tibet Film Festival India has always platformed a diversity of Tibetan artists to nurture a culture of art appreciation within the Tibetan community. From musicians to emerging photographers, illustrators and painters, our specially curatedTibetan art showcases have been loved by our audiences over the years.
Tibetan singer and songwriter Gtashi at TFF India 2022
Student film project: behind the scenes
school outreach program: Filmmaking Workshop by tenzin tsetan choklay
What began as a week-long workshop on “Introduction to Filmmaking” turned into a month-long adventure with high school students of the Tibetan Children’s Village (TCV) school in Gopalpur through October - November 2017.
A group of 15 Tibetan students spent five weeks immersed in learning the basics of filmmaking from script writing to storyboard creation, location scouting, casting, shooting, sound and light, editing and other elements of post production work.
