The 6th edition of Tibet Film Festival London returns to the Genesis and we’re kicking off with a special double bill of new documentary short films by two incredible Tibetan women directors, “Encounters: Memories, Museums, Empire and Exile” by Nyima Murry and a new short film by Kunsang Kyirong.

“Encounters” was commissioned to be part of an exhibition at Kedleston Hall - an 18th-century Grade I listed National Trust property in Derbyshire - titled How Did We Get Here?. The exhibition is a collaboration between the National Trust and members of the Tibetan community living in Britain. “Encounters” traces intertwined journeys of displacement experienced by both historical artefacts and a diasporic community to reveal the entangled histories that link Britain’s imperial rule in India with its historic invasion into Tibet. “Encounters” is a moving exploration of memory, identity, ownership, and the enduring legacy of empire.

Both directors Nyima Murry and Kunsang Kyirong will take part in a live Q&A and discussion after the screenings in conversation with Dr. Emma Martin, Senior Lecturer in Museology, Art History and Cultural Practices at University of Manchester specialising in Tibetan museology and material culture.

Bios:
Nyima Murry is a British-Tibetan designer and artist. Her research-based practice spans filmmaking, installation, and design to write alternative histories of landscape and the built environment, centring the marginalised and diasporic communities whose presence rarely survives in national or architectural archives.

Kunsang Kyirong is a Tibetan-Canadian filmmaker. Her debut feature 100 SUNSET premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, where it was the recipient of the Best Canadian Discovery Award-Honorable Mention. Her work has exhibited at The Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, The Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia, and elsewhere. She lives in Montreal.

Dr Emma Martin is Senior Lecturer in Museology at the University of Manchester. She has more than 25 years of experience as a curator of collections from South Asia, the Himalayas and Tibet. Her research sits at the intersection of colonialism(s), Tibetan Studies, museum activism, and materiality and moves between contemporary museum practice in Tibetan exile contexts and historical research on Tibetan materiality in British colonial archives.

This screening will be introduced by Tibet Film Festival London and followed by an in-person Q&A with the film’s writer/director Kunsang Kyirong.

100 Sunset follows two young Tibetan women navigating friendship, disappearance, and a quiet economy of survival in Toronto’s Parkdale neighborhood. Shot with non-professional actors and embedded in real community locations, the film offers a rare and intimate portrait of diasporic life.

Kunsel has recently settled in the Tibetan neighborhood of Parkdale, Toronto. An introverted young woman, she spends her days observing the residents of her apartment complex, and occasionally stealing from them when the urge strikes. She becomes intrigued by a new tenant, Passang, and a friendship quickly develops between the two young women. Passang, who is trapped in an unfulfilling marriage to an older man, confides in Kunsel about her plan to escape. As their friendship deepens, Kunsel is drawn into a web of deception that forces her to confront her desires and morals.

Kunsang Kyirong’s debut feature film, 100 Sunset received the Honourable Mention for Best Canadian Discovery Award at it’s World Premiere at the 50th Toronto International Film Festival.

Runtime: 76 minutes
Director: Kristi Tethong
Country: Canada
Year: 2025
Rating: (12A)

A father’s fading memory and echoes of a free Tibet lie at the heart of this intimate family story. In 1959 the Dalai Lama escaped Chinese occupation to India, followed by thousands of Tibetans. Over six decades later, as TC Tethong—former deputy to His Holiness—begins to lose his memory, remarkable family archives resurface, bringing to life a hopeful love story between TC and Judy, a Canadian volunteer who chose to build a life alongside Tibetans.

TC and Judy Tethong’s shared commitment began with urgent humanitarian work, and grew into a life devoted to the political struggle for Tibet and preserving Tibetan identity. Featuring rare reflections from an aging Dalai Lama and never-before-seen film reels of a fledgling Tibetan settlement carved from the South Indian jungle, the film weaves one family's story with the history of the last generation to remember a free Tibet. As TC's memory fades, old photos and Judy's meticulously preserved letters reveal the quiet, often unseen ways history is carried forward—by those who safeguard the stories of everyday life. Unfolding in a delicate dance between past and present, loss and hope, FAR FROM HOME is an exploration of love, resilience, and the longing for a home out of reach. As one generation begins to disappear, can remembering itself become an act of resistance?

This UK Premiere screening of FAR FROM HOME will feature an introduction from Tibet Film Festival London, as well as a Q&A with special guests following the screening.

FAR FROM HOME is shown in English and Tibetan and will feature English subtitles throughout.

Join us for the annual Short Film Competition where you will decide the winner of the Audience Award!