Kunsang Kyirong’s debut feature fades like a vapour trail in a mood of disorientation and dislocationNot much happens and very little is explained in this elliptical, elusive drama by Canadian-Tibetan film-maker Kunsang Kyirong. Her film, her feature directing debut, takes us inside the tight-knit world of Toronto’s Tibetan community, using a cast of nonprofessional actors. It drifts in a dreamlike manner as it follows introverted 18-year-old Kunsel (Kenzin Kunsel), who lives in a grey slab high-rise block nicknamed Sunset Towers; its Tibetan residents seem to know everything about each other’s business. Her uncle Geysar (Tsering Bawa) is the caretaker, and runs card games out of their apartment.Kunsel is shy to the point of wordlessness; she is also a compulsive thief, rifling through handbags and coat pockets, with a knack for pilfering her victims’ most precious belongings. One night she steals a camcorder, and the shaky footage she subsequently films provides an inkling into her interior life – there is the faintest flicker of voyeurism as she begins spying on her neighbours, filming from her window. In particular, her gaze rests on Passang (Sonam Choekyi), a woman only a couple of years older than herself, who recently moved into number 100 with her husband. Continue reading...