The Spirit Doesn’t Come Anymore

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Technical Staff

THE SPIRIT DOESN'T COME ANYMORE
A synopsis

The practice of shamans invoking spirits/protectors to ward off evil and cure disease has been a significant feature of Tibetan social life for over a millennium. Considered an inborn faculty that needs only awakening, and channeling, the shaman’s art survives through his son or daughter.

Pao Wangchuk, 78, is the thirteenth in an unbroken line of spiritual mediums, living and practicing his craft this side of the Himalaya in the Tibetan camp in Pokhara, Nepal. The source of the old man's despair is Karma, his eldest son and heir-to-be, who may not be able to continue the family calling. Karma, like many youth of today, is given to drinking and easy life, and can't live up to the demands of being a spiritual healer. Also that this extraordinary vocation, by today's gauge, seems an altogether alien track for Karma. In the conflict between the father and son, Pao constantly complains that Karma is wasting away his life, and is worried that family lineage will die. But Karma doesn't care. He resents, and is frustrated by, his father's constant complaining and mistrust. His frustration even led him to a suicide attempt once.

Film festivals and awards

1997 Best Film Award, Film South Asia (Festival of South Asian Documentary Films), Kathmandu, Nepal
1998 Best Indigenous Filmmaker of the Year, Parnu Anthropological Film Festival, Estonia
1997 Leipzig Dokfestival, Germany
1997 9th Internationales Berg + Abenteuer Film Festival Graz, Austria
1998 Cinema du Reel, Paris, France
1998 Bilan Ethnographique, Paris, France
1998 Hong Kong International Film Festival, Hong Kong
1998 Telluride Mountain Film Festival (USA)
1998 Beeld Voor Beeld, Amsterdam Anthropological Film Festival, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1998 Fukuoka International Film Festival (Focus On Asia), Japan
1999 Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, Japan
2003 Himalayan Film Festival, Amsterdam, The Netherlands


Screenings

1998 Kino Xenix Theatre, Zurich, Switzerland
1998 National Film Theatre, London, England
2000 India International Center, New Delhi
2000 INPUT Conference Asia, Kathmandu, Nepal
2001 INPUT Conference International, Cape Town, South Africa


Broadcasts

1998 Estonian TV, Estonia
2002 CUNY TV, New York


Press comments on
THE SPIRIT DOESN'T COME ANYMORE

"It is rare to find a film in which a filmmaker makes so many right choices throughout the film - where the camera attains a proximity even while it never loses sight of a crucial distance without being intrusive"

"An extraordinary portrait of a traditional Tibetan faith healer ...and a sensitive exploration of relationships within his family"

"The chief appeal of the film is its intimate portrayal of the characters, and far from being turned off by Pao Wangchuk's curmudgeonly, sometimes wicked, ways, he becomes a memorable character. Rhitar's film also works because it has a storyline, unlike most documentaries. The earthy, unjudging Tibetan humor is in strong form in this film"

"A multi-faceted portrait of an unusual family emerges, augmented by the views of villagers, patients, neighbors and friends"

News/Reviews
Tibetan film bags top award

Out of the 51 documentary films screened at the first-ever festival of South Asian documentaries, organised in Kathmandu in October by Himal South Asia Magazine (formerly Himal, a Himalayan Magazine), the top award went to The Spirit Doesn’t Come Anymore, by Tsering Rhitar.

The 38-minute-long film is about Pao Wangchuk, a 78-year-old Tibetan ngakpa/lha bab, or shaman, the 13th in the line, who lives in the Hyanja Tibetan Camp in Pokhara, and his relationship with his family. Pao Wangchuk is an irascible character, who beats his wife and bullies his eldest son and heir-to-succeed. He is especially hard on his son, 30, who isn’t able nor too interested in taking up his father’s vocation, which adds to his father’s ire and despair, and further alienates the son. The chief appeal of the film is its intimate portrayal of the characters, and far from being turned off by Pao Wanchuk’s curmudgeonly, sometimes wicked, ways, he becomes a memorable character. Rhitar’s film also works because it has a storyline, unlike most documentaries. The earthy, unjudging Tibetan humour is in strong form in this film.

In giving the top honours to The Spirit Doesn’t Come Anymore, directed by Rhitar, produced by Sherab Lhawang and Tsering Dorje, the three-man jury, from Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan, said the film-maker did not make a single false turn even when the chances to do so were presented. A graduate of Jamia Milia Islamia University, New Delhi, Rhitar has made two documentaries (Tears of Torture, about a nun who escapes from Tibet) and two docudramas (including The Letter). It is remarkable that Rhitar’s third effort in documentary film-making should have won the award - a cash prize of US$2500 - out of a field that included several renowned filmmakers such as Anand Patwardhan and Meera Dewan (from India), among others.

The Spirit Doesn’t Come Anymore has been accepted for screening at film festivals in the West, and its maker Rhitar is turning his sights to making a Tibetan feature film.

The second prize was shared by three entries - Father, Son and Holy War, by veteran Anand Patwardhan, Meals Ready by Surajit Sarkar and Vani Subramaniam, and Nusrat Has Left the Building - But When? by Pakistani Farjad Nabi, the latter two entries being first-time efforts. The jury cited a special mention of Muktir Gaan, an epic film about Bangladesh’s freedom struggle, by Tareque/Catherine Masud.

Out of a total of 135 films submitted to Film South Asia `97, 55 were selected for screening, and 51 for the competition. Most of the filmmakers were in Kathmandu to present their entries, the majority of whom were Indian participants. Besides the entry by Tsering Rhitar, a first effort by another Tibetan Kesang Tseten - on the Lepchas of Sikkim - was also screened at the filmfest.

Himal South Asia Magazine plans the next South Asia documentary film festival in 1999.