Home > News > Tibet > Culture & Religion >

Rural projectionist brings cinematic joy to villagers in SW China's Tibet
By:Xinhua
update:May 25,2022
LHASA, May 24 -- Lodro is a rural film projectionist in Damxung County, Lhasa. Since 1985, he has visited nearly 200 villages on the grasslands of northern Tibet.
 
Lodro's projectionist workflow includes tasks like setting up the screen and stereo, as well as performing generator and projector maintenance.
 
Lodro sets up the digital film projector in Barling Village, Damxung County of Lhasa, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, May 20, 2022. (Xinhua/Jigme Dorje)
 
 Lodro sets up the screen in Barling Village, Damxung County of Lhasa, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, May 20, 2022. (Xinhua/Jigme Dorje)
 
Documentaries about livestock farming and breeding are shown alongside action and war films. This brings the herders together and enriches their lives.
 
Damxung County is known for its livestock farming, with an average elevation of more than 4,300 meters.
 
Lodro was ten years old when he saw his first film. According to Lodro, film projection was a prestigious job at the time, and only the projectionist could touch the projector, which was kept in an iron box.
 
"Whenever a movie was going to be shown," Lodro explained, "the villagers would pitch in to help set up the screen."
 
"The well-known singer Cedain Zhoema's performance in Beijing is still fresh in my mind," Lodro said. "Everyone was ecstatic as they watched it on the screen, and even the back of the screen was crammed with people."
 
Later, when the county needed film projectionists, Lodro applied and was hired.
 
Lodro drives to project a film in Barling Village, Damxung County of Lhasa, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, May 20, 2022. (Xinhua/Sun Fei)
 
Lodro gears up for movie projecting in Latog Village, Damxung County of Lhasa, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, May 20, 2022. (Xinhua/Bian Ting)
 
 Lodro checks the screen in Barling Village, Damxung County of Lhasa, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, May 20, 2022. (Xinhua/Liu Ying)
 
 Lodro feeds a horse in Latog Village, Damxung County of Lhasa, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, May 20, 2022. (Xinhua/Liu Ying)
 
Lodro sets up the screen in Barling Village, Damxung County of Lhasa, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, May 20, 2022. (Xinhua/Sun Fei)
 
Watching movies was a rare pastime for herdsmen in the 1980s and 1990s. Nonetheless, Lodro made frequent trips to Damxung County's villages, driving a hand-held tractor loaded with film screening equipment and daily necessities and presenting open-air movies to the villagers. Each journey would last more than three months.
 
Lodro's movie projectors have been upgraded from analog to digital technology over the years. The outdoor movie theaters in the villages will be moved indoors, allowing people to watch movies in a more convenient and comfortable setting.
 
The projectionist, now 62, is content to screen films either on windy grasslands or in indoor cinemas "as long as people can bask in the joy as the screen flickers."
 
Lodro sets up the screen in Barling Village, Damxung County of Lhasa, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, May 20, 2022. (Xinhua/Jigme Dorje)
 
Lodro sets up the screen in Barling Village, Damxung County of Lhasa, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, May 20, 2022. (Xinhua/Sun Fei)
 
Lodro checks and trouble-shoots the digital movie projector in Barling Village, Damxung County of Lhasa, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, May 20, 2022. (Xinhua/Jigme Dorje)
 
Lodro reports his film-screening work via WeChat messaging at an open-air cinema in Barling Village, Damxung County of Lhasa, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, May 20, 2022. (Xinhua/Jigme Dorje)
 
Aerial photo taken on May 20, 2022 shows the open-air cinema in Barling Village, Damxung County of Lhasa, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Sun Fei)
 
  • Rural projectionist brings cinematic joy to villagers in SW China's Tibet
  • Snow leopards find stable home in Tibet
  • Spectacular view of Xiaqiong monastery in Qinghai

E-mail:editor@tibetol.cn |About Us|Contact Us |Site Maps|
Address:3/F, C Tower, RECREO International Centre, 8 Wangjing East Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100102, PRC
Copyright by China Intercontinental Communication Co., Ltd All Rights Reserved.