Trailer
In 1959, the Dalai Lama fled Chinese-occupied Tibet and thousands of Tibetans followed him into exile. Far From Home tells the story of that exile through one family, filmed in three countries over twenty years. TC Tethong served as deputy to the Dalai Lama. His wife Judy arrived as a young volunteer and stayed for good, first in humanitarian work with Tibetan refugees, then in the political struggle for Tibet.
Today TC is losing his memory. While digitising the family archive, his relatives found 16mm film and photographs untouched for more than fifty years, including the first years of a Tibetan refugee settlement and images of a young Dalai Lama. With Judy’s letters and interviews with their three adult children, the archive shows how an exiled community rebuilt its life from nothing.
The film includes recent reflections from the Dalai Lama, now in his nineties, and arrives at a key moment: China says it will choose his successor, a claim rejected by the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government in exile. Far From Home is both a family story and a first-hand account of more than sixty years of Tibetan exile, told by the last generation that remembers a free Tibet.
Director: Kristi Tethong
Producers: Kristi Tethong, Losel Tethong
Commissioned by: TVO
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