Filming linka, the soul of Lhasa

If Kangdrun were to pick a season to define her childhood, it would definitely be summer.

For the Tibetan director who was born and raised in Lhasa, capital of Southwest China's Xizang autonomous region, summer evokes not just long school holidays and the traditional Shoton Festival, but also a season for linka, a cherished local tradition of gathering outdoors for picnics, songs, dances and laughter.

In mid-October, the 31-year-old filmmaker's first feature-length film, Linka Linka, named after the tradition, made its debut on the big screen.

Shot entirely in Tibetan, the 100-minute film unfolds during a summer night's linka gathering in Lhasa, bringing together three stories that follow the coming of age of its protagonist, Sangye.

"I deeply love my hometown. Bringing the Lhasa dialect and the lives of contemporary residents to the screen is an instinctive and heartfelt wish for me as a native," Kangdrun says.

The production team followed the young actress through four distinct stages of filming between 2020 and 2024, capturing her transition from childhood to adolescence. The film received support from the region's literary and art funding program.

Its reach, however, has extended well beyond Lhasa. The film has won awards and received nominations at festivals in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Sochi and Buenos Aires. Among its accolades are the Firebird Award and FIPRESCI Prize at the 50th Hong Kong International Film Festival. It has also been selected for international film festivals in Shanghai, Udine, Barcelona and Vancouver.

Local audiences have described the film as "very Lhasa" — precisely the response Kangdrun hoped to elicit. Her intention was to capture a city that is real and alive, along with the experiences of its younger generation.

"In Lhasa, young people are just as comfortable recalling their childhood in Tibetan as they are discussing their future in Mandarin. They will pursue studies wherever opportunities take them, then return in summer to spread mats on the grass and enjoy a linka gathering," she says.

Like Sangye in the film, Kangdrun left her hometown to study and obtained a master's degree in film production at the Beijing-based Communication University of China.

While at university, Kangdrun began filming Xizang's veteran rock band NAMCHAK. Between academic terms, she kept returning to Lhasa to shoot and produce short films.

She says many of her peers had experiences pursuing studies away from home and growing up amid diverse cultural influences, allowing them to look at the plateau more objectively.

"Culture flows, and it evolves as it moves," she says. "What we young people do today is quietly reshaping this city."

Tibetan is widely used in Xizang in publishing, media and everyday communication. According to a white paper released last year, more than 15,000 hours of radio programs, over 80 films and 7,300 hours of television programs are translated or dubbed into and from languages of ethnic groups every year.

Kangdrun is now working on her next film, which once again turns its attention to Lhasa. Titled Orlo in the House, it follows a Tibetan man who works at a sweet tea house in the city.

"Filming has wrapped, and post-production is underway," she says.