Sonthar Gyal (born 1974) is a Tibetan film director in People's
Republic of China. His films include The Sun Beaten Path (2011) and
River (2015).Sonthar Gyal was born in Tongde County, Hainan Tibetan
Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai. His father was a primary school
teacher who was the first person to graduate from college in the
region. Sonthar Gyal studied at the Tsolho Nationalities Teacher
Training College in Hainan (Tsolho) Prefecture and taught in the
nomadic community for four years. Afterwards he received a scholarship
to study fine arts at the Qinghai Normal University in Xining. After
graduating in 2003 with a B.A. in Fine Arts, he worked as an art
teacher and a curator at the Tongde Cultural Museum.Although he grew
up on the grassland with very few opportunities to watch films (and
the ones he watched were in Chinese) he became so fascinated by films
that he began to collect scraps of films after each open-air showing.
Later, encouraged by his friend Pema Tseden who also hails from Hainan
Prefecture, Sonthar Gyal followed him to the prestigious Beijing Film
Academy, where he studied cinematography for 2 years with the support
of Trace Foundation. Upon graduation, he worked as a cinematographer
and artistic director for a series of films and documentaries, many
directed by Pema Tseden. He made his directorial debut in 2011 with
The Sun Beaten Path.
Republic of China. His films include The Sun Beaten Path (2011) and
River (2015).Sonthar Gyal was born in Tongde County, Hainan Tibetan
Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai. His father was a primary school
teacher who was the first person to graduate from college in the
region. Sonthar Gyal studied at the Tsolho Nationalities Teacher
Training College in Hainan (Tsolho) Prefecture and taught in the
nomadic community for four years. Afterwards he received a scholarship
to study fine arts at the Qinghai Normal University in Xining. After
graduating in 2003 with a B.A. in Fine Arts, he worked as an art
teacher and a curator at the Tongde Cultural Museum.Although he grew
up on the grassland with very few opportunities to watch films (and
the ones he watched were in Chinese) he became so fascinated by films
that he began to collect scraps of films after each open-air showing.
Later, encouraged by his friend Pema Tseden who also hails from Hainan
Prefecture, Sonthar Gyal followed him to the prestigious Beijing Film
Academy, where he studied cinematography for 2 years with the support
of Trace Foundation. Upon graduation, he worked as a cinematographer
and artistic director for a series of films and documentaries, many
directed by Pema Tseden. He made his directorial debut in 2011 with
The Sun Beaten Path.
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