International Competition Award: FUCK THE POLIS by Rita Azevedo Gomes

Georges de Beauregard International Award: FRÍO METAL by Clemente Castor

Special mention of the International Competition Jury: COBRE by Nicolás Pereda

French Competition Award: BONNE JOURNÉE by Pauline Bastard

Georges de Beauregard National Award: HORS-CHAMP, LES OMBRES by Anna Dubosc, Gustavo de Mattos Jahn

Cnap (National Centre for Visual Arts) Award: DES MILLÉNAIRES D’ABSENCE by Philippe Rouy

Special mention of the Cnap (National Centre for Visual Arts) Jury: L’AMOUR SUR LE CHEMIN DES RONCETTES by Sophie Roger

First Film Award: FANTAISIE by Isabel Pagliai

Special mention of the First Film Competition Jury: LOS CRUCES by Julián Galay

Special mention of the First Film Competition Jury: SI NOUS HABITONS UN ÉCLAIR by Louise Chevillotte

Claudia Cardinale Foundation Award: FERNLICHT by Johanna Schorn Kalinsky

Cine+ Distribution support Award in partnership with GNCR: MORTE E VIDA MADALENA by Guto Parente

Flash Competition Award: گل‌های شب ِدریا by Maryam Tafakory

Special mention of the Flash Competition Jury: A PRELUDE by Wendelien van Oldenborgh

Special mention of the Flash Competition Jury: CONTROL ANATOMY by Mahmoud Alhaj

Special mention of the Flash Competition Jury: LENGUA MUERTA by José Jiménez

Alice Guy Award: ABORTION PARTY by Julia Mellen

Renaud Victor Award: BULAKNA by Leonor Noivo

Special mention of the Renaud Victor Jury: SI NOUS HABITONS UN ÉCLAIR by Louise Chevillotte

High School Award: NEXT LIFE by Tenzin Phuntsog

Special mention of the High School Jury: MIRACULOUS ACCIDENT by Assaf Gruber

The Second Chance School Award: NEXT LIFE by Tenzin Phuntsog

Special mention of the Second Chance School Jury: JACOB’S HOUSE by Lucas Kane

Audience Award: LA JUVENTUD ES UNA ISLA by Louise Ernandez

International Competition Award: FUCK THE POLIS by Rita Azevedo Gomes

Georges de Beauregard International Award: FRÍO METAL by Clemente Castor

Special mention of the International Competition Jury: COBRE by Nicolás Pereda

French Competition Award: BONNE JOURNÉE by Pauline Bastard

Georges de Beauregard National Award: HORS-CHAMP, LES OMBRES by Anna Dubosc, Gustavo de Mattos Jahn

Cnap (National Centre for Visual Arts) Award: DES MILLÉNAIRES D’ABSENCE by Philippe Rouy

Special mention of the Cnap (National Centre for Visual Arts) Jury: L’AMOUR SUR LE CHEMIN DES RONCETTES by Sophie Roger

First Film Award: FANTAISIE by Isabel Pagliai

Special mention of the First Film Competition Jury: LOS CRUCES by Julián Galay

Special mention of the First Film Competition Jury: SI NOUS HABITONS UN ÉCLAIR by Louise Chevillotte

Claudia Cardinale Foundation Award: FERNLICHT by Johanna Schorn Kalinsky

Cine+ Distribution support Award in partnership with GNCR: MORTE E VIDA MADALENA by Guto Parente

Flash Competition Award: گل‌های شب ِدریا by Maryam Tafakory

Special mention of the Flash Competition Jury: A PRELUDE by Wendelien van Oldenborgh

Special mention of the Flash Competition Jury: CONTROL ANATOMY by Mahmoud Alhaj

Special mention of the Flash Competition Jury: LENGUA MUERTA by José Jiménez

Alice Guy Award: ABORTION PARTY by Julia Mellen

Renaud Victor Award: BULAKNA by Leonor Noivo

Special mention of the Renaud Victor Jury: SI NOUS HABITONS UN ÉCLAIR by Louise Chevillotte

High School Award: NEXT LIFE by Tenzin Phuntsog

Special mention of the High School Jury: MIRACULOUS ACCIDENT by Assaf Gruber

The Second Chance School Award: NEXT LIFE by Tenzin Phuntsog

Special mention of the Second Chance School Jury: JACOB’S HOUSE by Lucas Kane

Audience Award: LA JUVENTUD ES UNA ISLA by Louise Ernandez

A Tibetan family—a father, a mother, a son—living in the Unites States. The father is critically ill, and his days are numbered. Tenzin Phuntsog invites us to share with this family the peculiar passage from life to death. The United States of Next Life are those of spotless open-plan kitchens, houses with perfectly moaned lawns in impeccable suburbs: all the signs of integration and adoption of the habits and customs of the American way of life. However, death gradually sets in, and Tenzin Phuntsog establishes a different relationship to the world, sealed by rituals, intimacy of language, and care for the body. The hubbub of blood flow sounds almost fantastic when Tibetan doctor listens carefully to it to reach an irrevocable diagnostic. A lama provides Buddhist teachings that break down our existence on Earth into four stages: birth, aging, sickness, death. A smartphone is simply a way to stay connected. Transcendence and pragmatic wisdom go peacefully hand in hand. Using a few landscapes—both virtual and real—, a stripped-down mise en scène and still frames lingering on faces, the director reaches the secret of spirituality through the most subtle strokes. While softness prevails, the film is deeply moving and acknowledges the pain that emerges in modest outpourings, and the violence of death, filmed head-on. Death marks the end of exile, and a possible return to homeland. Between retention and suspension, Next Life embraces the quiet and the silence that soothe the soul so that it can pass through the Bardo before rebirth. Capturing the essence of a delicate in-between, Tenzin Phuntsog also reminds us that in every photographic image, there is a “return of the dead” (Roland Barthes).

Claire Lasolle

Interview

Tenzin Phuntsog

The opening scene, the only moment with extradiegetic music, establishes a spectral strangeness that shrouds the film. It’s a photographic gaze. Can you talk about it? And the construction of this picture with the three main characters as an opening?

The opening scene of the film was the first thing we filmed on the first day of production. I believe it played a crucial role in setting the tone and ambiance for the rest of the film. My vision for the opening was to create an image with a certain detachment from reality. It was essential for me to frame the family together in a portrait-like gaze. When the bodies are framed in this manner, the camera moves through space as if time has stopped, allowing us to re-enter a memory of a family and a memory of a house. This moment is revisited throughout the film, and I imagined it as a moment the family might return to as well.

Regarding the sound you mentioned, I included a piece of audio in the final hour taken from my mother’s personal phone messages exchanged with her sister in Tibet. Although the sound quality of the recording was quite lo-fi, we managed to enhance it to evoke the feeling of a Tibetan folk song echoing across the mountainsides or grasslands of Tibet.

The film moves forward patiently, mainly through still shots. What did they allow you to do? Was this visual writing present from the start? Can you tell us about fixity as a motif in the film?

The approach I took was very much informed by the quality of film I was searching for. What I can say is that I was very interested in seeing bodies in the frame, and I was very interested in the gaze of the camera, specifically how it felt, or the empathy of the camera. For me this feeling of the gaze is something that I felt my way through the shoot intuitively based on the moment and the effect of the frame. What I can say is that I was after a very nuanced gaze but always a gaze that loved the family but would not intervene in the cruelty of the world.

Next Life is your first feature film. Can you tell us about the genesis of the project and the different stages of the work? Why did you choose the existential sequence of death (not the mourning) as the narrative driving force?

Next Life aims to express abstract qualities and feelings. In this film, we encounter people who embrace a belief in reincarnation within a suburban landscape, which might initially seem devoid of spirit. I find this contradiction fascinating. The belief in the next life, or reincarnation, is central to the Tibetan worldview, expressed in the term ཚེ་ཕྱི་མ “Tse Chema” (phonetic transliteration). It’s a word commonly used in everyday conversations, and the way it’s used in language inspired me.

The film plays on the encounter between two cultures, Tibetan and U.S., which structure a relationship to the body, illness and death and its representation. This encounter is not conflictual, but part of the natural order of things. In what way did your own relationship to these cultures influence your approach? How did you go about staging the film?

Continuing from my previous response, the balance you’re referring to, I would describe it as a stream of water flowing. This stream embodies a kind of “tender faith” that is undeniable. I’ve seen it reflected in my parents’ eyes and felt it reflected in the stories of my grandparents. As I grew older, I stopped questioning it and instead grew to appreciate its actuality. When people have the courage to hold onto hope, despite experiencing deep suffering, it’s one of the most beautiful qualities we possess as human beings. And I tried to render this quality in the film. Ultimately, it circles back to a very universal question: What is happiness?

In a very concrete and surprising way, you integrate technology as elements that can accompany the spiritual and painful journey that is the loss of a loved one. Could you elaborate on this? Why was this element important?

The technological element in the film emerged organically as I observed the progress and development of virtual reality technology. At some point, I realized that this technology might become so advanced that we could enter a representation of Tibet that feels convincingly real. This led me to ponder how such an experience might affect those who miss their homeland but cannot return to Tibet due to political restrictions. It became an opportunity to express this longing in a contemporary way, allowing the son—born in exile and never having seen Tibet with his own eyes—to connect with his father and explore his own unrealized questions.

A stripped-down style without emphasis prevails in the film. However, you chose to stage the very moment of death, filmed in close-up. Why did you make this choice? What were the challenges?

To me, the film is not about death per se, but rather about how we live. For a Tibetan, preparing for the next life informs how one should live. This perspective, along with moments involving Tibetan medicine and illness, offers windows into something beyond the physical realm. I believe these moments evoke such an effect. In our modern world, there seem to be fewer opportunities and places to connect with the beauty of our human existence, which to me is something ephemeral. In these instances, we oscillate between the sacred and the profane. Through cinema, I aimed to craft moments that connect us to something more elusive. A very popular text is the Tibetan Book of the Dead which has been adapted into many contemporary works from literature to film. To me the text serves as a meaningful reminder to live and how we should live.

Interview by Claire Lasolle

Technical sheet

  • Subtitles:
    English, French
  • Script:
    Tenzin Phuntsog
  • Photography:
    Tenzin Phuntsog
  • Editing:
    Tenzin Phuntsog
  • Sound:
    Splendor Omnia
  • Production:
    Tenzin Phuntsog (Plateaux), JAVIER URIEL GONZÁLEZ BENAVIDES (SPLENDOR OMNIA)
  • Contact:
    Malkah Manouel (malkah.film@gmail.com)