The Red Phallus
The Red Phallus by Tashi Gyeltshen
BTN/DEU/NPL 2018, Generation
© Studio108
The Red Phallus by Tashi Gyeltshen
BTN/DEU/NPL 2018, Generation
© Studio108
The Red Phallus by Tashi Gyeltshen
BTN/DEU/NPL 2018, Generation
© Studio108
The Red Phallus by Tashi Gyeltshen
BTN/DEU/NPL 2018, Generation
© Studio108
The Red Phallus by Tashi Gyeltshen
BTN/DEU/NPL 2018, Generation
© Studio108
The Red Phallus by Tashi Gyeltshen
BTN/DEU/NPL 2018, Generation
Demons in blood-red masks stalk 16-year-old Sangay through the village at the foot of the awe-inspiring Himalayas. Her father is an artisan who holds fast to the old ways, carving phalli from wood to ward off evil spirits. He wants to protect his daughter from harm, which he does by controlling her every move. This becomes all the more pronounced once he hears of her secret affair with a married man from a lower social class, who in turn keeps pressuring her to run off to the city with him. Sangay responds with the courage to look behind the fearsome masks. Its rhythm archaic, its imagery imposing and its outcome drastic, Tashi Gyeltshen’s radical feature debut portrays one girl's bitter struggle to assert her own identity and independence.
With
- Tshering Euden (Sangay)
- Singye (Passa)
- Dorji Gyeltshen (Ap Atsara)
Crew
| Written and Directed by | Tashi Gyeltshen |
| Cinematography | Jigme T. Tenzing |
| Editing | Saman Alvitigala |
| Music | Jigme Drukpa, Frances-Marie Uitti |
| Sound Design | Niraj Gera |
| Sound Mixing | Mickey Macachor |
| Colourist | Sidharth Meer |
| Production Design | Karma Tenzin |
| Production Manager | Tshewang Dendup |
| Assistant Director | Kelzang Dorjee |
| Producers | Tashi Gyeltshen, Kristina Konrad, Ram Krishna Pokharel |
World Sales
Asian Shadows
Produced by
Studio 108
Zoom Out Productions
Icefall Productions
Tshering Euden
The protagonist at the premiere.
The Red Phallus · Generation · Feb 11, 2019
Film team
The producers Krishna Pokharel and Fidel Devkota, the protagonist Tshering Euden, the section head Maryanne Redpath, the director Tashi Gyeltshen and the cutter Saman Alvitigala.
The Red Phallus · Generation · Feb 11, 2019
Tshering Euden, Tashi Gyeltshen
The protagonist and the director at the Photo Call.
The Red Phallus · Generation · Feb 11, 2019
Tashi Gyeltshen
Born in Bhutan in 1972, he is a journalist and writer who worked for various newspapers in Bhutan before teaching himself filmmaking. His first short film, Girl with a Red Sky (2009) was commissioned by UNICEF. In 2010, he won the Best Screenplay Award at the Bhutan National Film Awards for the film Sem Gi Jurwa. After making a documentary, his third short, The Red Door (2014) premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. The Red Phallus won the Open Doors Grant at the Locarno Film Festival.
Filmography
2008 The Girl With a Red Sky; short film 2010 A Forgotten Story; short film 2011 Taekwondo in Bhutan; documentary 2014 The Red Door; short film 2018 The Red Phallus
Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2019