Rice & Sugar
Directed by Phillip O’Leary
Documentary Feature
United States | 61min | 2025
Tenzin Zopa’s life began in the Himalayas of Nepal, where towering mountains and unspoiled nature formed the backdrop to a childhood that was anything but serene. In Rice & Sugar, Tenzin Zopa returns to his home in the Tsum Valley to recount in rare detail the brutal reality of his past and his fraught relationship with his father. At six, he was thrust into grueling child labor, working as a porter and hauling heavy loads for weeks through steep mountain paths. His home offered no refuge. His father ridiculed him without mercy, and only showed love to Zopa’s younger brother. Hunger was a constant companion. For three years, his only sustenance was the milk he sucked directly from the family cow. The one thing that gave him hope—his dream of becoming a monk—was crushed under his father’s strict prohibition. By the age of eight, despair had driven him to the brink of suicide. Then came a lifeline: a Master Buddhist teacher, living in a nearby cave offered Zopa unconditional love and mentorship. Under his Master’s guidance, Zopa broke free from his family’s grip and the bleak future it promised. Now, on his journey back home, he recounts his emotional story and attempts to understand, and make peace with, the pain inflicted upon him by his father.
The Last Puestero
Directed by Belle Casares
Documentary Short
United States | 28 min | 2025
THE LAST PUESTERO is a short documentary that tells the story of Adonai, a gaucho -or Argentine cowboy- who spends most of his days alone in a remote Patagonian outpost, protecting cattle from poachers and pumas. While deeply proud of his work and the skills it demands, he struggles with the loneliness of being away from his wife and children in town. As he hopes his son will carry on the puestero tradition, he faces the painful reality that changing times may bring an end to this way of life.