The Red Mask

This children’s film captures the quintessence of the battle of passion for performing art and how an individual’s interest and dogged determination can triumph over family pressure, social custom and external influences. It tells how an old opera master discovers the potential in the young man and how he passes his knowledge down to the younger generation.

Red Mask presents the exilic contradictions and challenges through the eyes of this young novice monk, who madly wants to become an opera singer and yet is forced to become a monk by his dominant mother. This finely webbed tale of a young monk and his family is the representation of collective struggle in a microcosm.

The novice monk’s eventual triumph over his religious teacher and the strict mother to become an opera singer is a symptomatic of the collective Tibetan hard work, resilience and how relentless pursuance of a goal lands victory in the end.

I produced, wrote, directed and shot all the tracking shots used in the film.