Video: Tonight on PBS, “Summer Pasture” shows Tibetan nomads at a crossroads

Making its television premiere on Independent Lens on PBS tonight, Summer Pasture is a documentary about the rapid changes happening in the Dzachukha grasslands in eastern Tibet. Locally, the area is known as "the five-most" — it's the highest, largest, coldest, poorest and most remote area in Sichuan province.

The film focuses on Locho and Yama, a young couple living a traditional nomadic lifestyle herding yaks and horses. But as Dzachukha becomes increasingly modernized, many people in their community have been moving to cities and towns to find more stable work.

"It's become a different place, a desperate place," Locho says in the film. "It's changing so much it's hard to recognize." According to Locho, Yama, and their community, the herders have entered duegnan — "dark times." [More, with video trailer, after the jump.]

The filmmakers spent several months with Locho and Yama as they grappled with a difficult decision: they want their infant daughter, Jiatomah, to have the best opportunities in life, but they worry that if they send her to school, she won't choose to live the traditional nomadic life her family has been living for countless generations.

Directed by Lynn True, Nelson Walker, and Tsering Perlo, Summer Pasture has been screened at numerous film festivals, garnering nominations at the Independent Spirit Awards and the Gotham Independent Film Awards. It was produced by the Kham Film Project, an association of American and Tibetan filmmakers working to share issues and experiences from inside Tibet.

Independent Lens screens tonight at 10 pm on most PBS stations. Check pbs.org for local schedules.

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Blessed One by Thich Nhat Hahn

Through my love for you, I want to express my love for the whole cosmos, the whole of humanity, and all beings. By living with you, I want to learn to love everyone and all species. If I succeed in loving you, I will be able to love everyone and all species on Earth... This is the real message of love. Thich Nhat Hanh

Video Rating: 4 / 5



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