Jack from Film in Revolt spoke with Nepalese director Min Bahadur Bham over Sydney Film Festival about his film Shambhala.
What does your latest film, Shambhala, represent for you?
Let me go back to when I started my film career. Because when I started making films, I always believed a story could reflect me and that I could express myself to the cinema and through my stories and through my writing in general.
So that was, in general, the initial idea when I jumped into cinema. Shambhala, my new film, it’s not only about my explorations of myself, it’s also an exploration of my own people from the village where I was born, where I grew up. Basically, it’s a big story that all the people from the mountain go through.
This film represents my own characteristics as well, and my own story, because it’s a reflection of my own character through the main protagonist Pema and the monk as well.
That’s why this film is very special for me to tell the world what kind of dilemma I went through in the past and up until now. And also, it was about a big question and curiosity for me about reincarnation.
I read that the script went through 45 drafts before shooting.
48.
Wow. And what was it that was changing? Was there something that you kept coming back to, to trying to tweak or change?
Actually, at the beginning, it was full of drama. It was full of expositions and gave all the information in a direct way. I really didn’t like that. And afterwards, I was having a dilemma about whether to focus on polyandry marriage or reincarnation.
That was what got me stuck for a while. Later on, it was because of COVID. Then the story was related to different topics that were not supposed to release during COVID, because the backdrop of the story was related to Yarsagumba.
The government decided not to allow for the large amount of people who were supposed to go to pick that in the mountains. I had to change that back and forth. And with COVID there were lots of restrictions.
And of course, at the same time as a script writer, I was really not happy with what the drafts were going through. I would say there were lots of changes it was very difficult for me to finalize the script.
How did you approach keeping the audience’s attention, while also making sure that there was enough character change and growth to fit the 2.5 hour runtime?
Yes, actually, this is the very common question that I have been facing because of the length.
Even my producers were telling me about the length before we finished the film. So, from the very beginning, from the phase of just a script, I was very clear about the style and about the length. The main reason why we decided to go for long takes and that very meditative way of storytelling – and the length of the film could be actually – ideally, it could even go for three hours. Because the main idea of having this style of film is that it represents the lifestyle, the speed and the philosophy of the people who live in the mountains. The people who live in the mountains, they don’t really have to rush, they don’t need to worry about catching their train, they don’t need to worry about their online meetings. They don’t have a lot of tasks to do every day.
The rhythm of their life is so meditative and so long. And it’s very interconnected from one person to another. And every single person can be really, really directly connected with the whole village and all the ecosystems, like the weather, mountains, yards, animals, lands, because it’s not only about the relationship of all these things.
It’s about the ecosystems. Without these ecosystems, we cannot imagine life in the Himalayas.
We decided to have long takes and have a longer length for the film.
And the second reason is because it’s a story of a journey. In everybody’s life, I believe that their journey could be very, very long. It’s never ending.
One thing I noticed is that the camera is very grounded throughout the film, it’s very attached to the ground. I only counted two or three aerial shots. And it felt at very specific moments in the film. How intentional was that?
When I was discussing with my cinematographer about the camera style and visual language of the film, and we decided to put the camera just at the front. Because the whole idea was to show this story from point of view of being from this place, not just a mental view. That’s why we decided if we had different styles of shots, like as you mentioned, aerial, bird’s-eye view, that could be seen as just the mental point of view. Since we were telling this story and it was about the taboo, the culture and so many things about the people who live in the mountains.
As a director, I felt like I should not be at the front as a storyteller. I should hide myself. How could I hide myself as much as possible?
So, my cinematographer and I decided as much, as we hide the camera and we put a camera at the front of the village, from under the character. So that we could reflect a witnessing point of view because we are not being seen as filmmakers in the shots. We are not saying this is right and that is wrong. Who are we to raise all these sensitive questions about mountain people? So that was the decision to put camera mostly at the front of the characters. And as you mentioned, there are a few scenes, three scenes, which are shot from both points of view.
So that was the idea to show this character, how the protagonist is becoming in the vast Himalayas. That was just the constructive idea to show her positions. Because what I believe is it doesn’t matter how big, how rich, how powerful you are. Once you go in front of the mountains, you have to fend for the survival, for your existence.
You have to melt with the ecosystem of the mountains.
I read that the shoot was quite challenging. What was your biggest take away from it, good or bad, or that you’ll take on to your next film?
Yes, it was full of challenges.
When you are making films in the mountains, it’s always challenging. Especially from the beginning, before we started shooting. The biggest challenges, I would say, the team was very international. It was a problem of the languages themself because the crew was from Europe, from Kazakhstan, from India, from Nepal, and they were from eight different countries. And nobody understood each other’s language. And the film itself was in Tibetan, which most of the crew members didn’t understand at all, including the sound recordist, cinematographer, and even myself.
I didn’t know Tibetan during the writing process until I started shooting. And that was itself a bit challenging.
And the second thing I have to mention was it was very dry. And then you can imagine the weather was like minus 18 and super dry, very windy.
And it was also a big challenge for continuity. Within one single shot, [the weather] could change from one point to another point. From a sunny moment, within one minute, it could start raining, snowfall, big wind, storms. And nobody was sure what kind of weather was going to happen.
With traveling, we had to walk very far from one location to another. And especially when we were shooting out of the villages, it was more than 6,000 meters [above sea level].
Most of the crew went through oxygen problems – including the technical crew, like cinematographer, gaffer, focus pullers, they were from the sea level. Like 50 meters to 30 meters above sea level. And they were working at 6,000 meters.
Yeah, physical problems. And back and forth, we were constantly getting consultants from the doctors, from the nurses. We had to rent helicopters for the rescue, when one of the actors, he got very, very sick for four days. He could not breathe.
But at the same time, we were so united because of these challenges. For example, every day when it came to evening, more than 20 people used to sleep together in a single tent, just to pass the heat from our body. Just to make sure that we get enough warmth. So, the entire team, the bonding was very strong.
And we had a very, very small crew. And we were targeting for one mission, to make this film. And that’s why I really would like to thank all my cast and including the local villages who supported us, who saved our life whenever we had challenges from nature, from food, health and sickness.
What was the biggest positive of the shoot, would you say?
The positive thing about the shooting was that nobody had an excuse to skip from this project, which naturally created strong bonds [between the team].
It’s not about our choices, especially when you go to the Himalayas. For instance, if I just wanted to run away from this project as a director, as a crew member, as an actor, I could go. There is now way where I could run. There is no way I could stop.
It’s all about the team and all the motivation. That was really positive, positive thing that all cast and crew had.
The second thing was, it was a big battle for us. It was a big challenge internally, not only externally. Like “Okay, anyhow, we have to complete this film. We have to complete this mission.”
It was a very extreme internal journey within ourselves. Like we were shooting this film in the monastery and we went through all these spiritual ups and downs.
As a director, I went through part of that big battle of the spiritual journey along with our main character. I believe that most of the cast and crew who also believed in karma, that faith and the storyline, what we were making the film about, the main journey of the protagonist. Spiritually, we were so strong.
And we all were practicing meditation. And also trying to find the core value of our life. It’s not about the cinema because we’re putting our lives at risk
We’re also learning about the minimalistic approach of living a life. We’re not only making a film. We’re also trying to find out so many answers of our lives that haunts everyone.
Making like distractions from our work, from our regular life. I would say the main positive things was everybody was ready to dive into this spiritual journey in their life.
You mentioned that it was seven different languages that the team spoke?
Let me remember, there was some of the crew who spoke Kazakh, Russian, Swiss, German, French, Nepalese, Tibetan, English, and the local language from the region. It was nine different languages.
Wow, how did you get past the language barrier as a director? Or was that a challenge you already knew how to navigate?
Actually, I was quite used to this kind of working style, because for my previous film also, we were using five or six different languages.
And this time I was more focused on team building to keep the morale high to pass time and ensure they had energy to stay and work in the mountains.
But I was never worried about the language barrier, because I always believed that, especially when you’re working on art or cinema, language never could be a big problem.
Of course, we need translators. There was our assistant director, and there was some of the other crew members who would help translating for others. But as a director, it really was from working so much and talking about these kinds of things. I discussed a lot.
I have a couple of thousands of hours of meetings and talking with the cast and crew before we started shooting. When we started shooting, I kind of made rules that nobody could talk to me. I didn’t talk to anyone. Except the cinematographer. Very rarely I used to talk to the cinematographer on set and extremely rarely with the actress, because there was my first assistant director who was also a translator and who was also working as an acting coach.
So, for me, it is very quiet, very peaceful.
Was that so you weren’t putting yourself in front of the camera, like you mentioned earlier? Or was that purely just so you could focus on what you were doing?
Actually, it was not only about focus. It was mostly because I didn’t have to talk about anything, everything was already set. We already had a storyboard. Everything was very clear. Also, that way I could keep my energy. I also never ate during shooting. Just one meal a day. I never spoke to anyone. I don’t like talking and making noise. I also had lots of strict rules for myself during shooting.
I never go on set if somebody is making noise. I always look to make my set like a prayer room.
Do you find that helps?
It really helps. Not only for me as a director, it also maintains the energy of the all the cast and crew. Not only does it reflect discipline, it also keeps our energy high because we don’t need to drain our energy just to make noise. It’s very quiet, relaxing, more concentrated. But of course, whenever we finish – I love to make noise. Like, let’s have a 15-minute break, dance, sing, make noises.
During shooting for me and for my team, it’s kind of like prayer, like meditation. Especially when you are working with the villages in the mountains and with these kinds of circumstances, you have to rely on the weather, you have to depend on the non-actors. You have to rely on the extras. You don’t have luxury. You don’t have excuses.
You don’t have the choice to go for another take just because of our sets. When you are going for long takes, there’s long resumption. it’s like a really meditative way of working. You have to aware from where then. You have to be aware from where the actors should enter, where the production team should hide themselves in order to push the yak in the frame.
When you have the working style of cutting from one shot to another shot, it’s more relaxing. You can make noise, you can relax. But when you are going for one take, it’s like working on a choir. It’s a big battle.
You have to rely on so many things. So that really requires lots of attention, lots of energy, lots of concentration, lots of spiritual, psychological energy. Lots of focus.
One other thing I noticed with the film was the dialogue would be subtitled, but if there was any singing, for instance, that wasn’t subtitled. How intentional was that? And what was the aim behind it?
The idea not to bring any subtitles for the songs was mostly because those songs are like mantras, especially in Tibetan language, Tibetan community.
Songs are not supposed to be romanticized. Those kind of songs are used as prayers, if you are wishing for something. It’s more like mantras, more like prayers, more like you are wishing for something. That’s why we decided not to put subtitles.
Of course, it’s not about underestimating the audience.
Rather, it’s about respecting the audience and respecting to the local cultures that it’s better not to use subtitle for those kind of high levels of prayers, which really comes from the inner heart. Like it’s not the singing that are very casual for like love songs. That’s why I decided not use subtitles. I might be wrong.
It was interesting because watching it, I noticed that. But then realised I don’t need to know what’s being said because once you’re in the scene, you understand what’s happening and the emotion behind it.
Many of my friends who watched this film were asking me why I didn’t put subtitles.
Even last week, we had a DCP test in Nepal for the first time. And they were asking me, is it OK if we put subtitles for the songs? And then when I described it to them, they said “OK, let’s not put them in”. It’s for the respect for the community where we shot the film. Normally, they don’t really wish to say these kind of things in a relative way because it’s part of their culture.
Just to use those mantras as prayers.
The film’s title doesn’t come on screen until I think it’s like 47 minutes in, which I loved it, but it really stood out. Was that an important choice for you or was that did it just feel natural?
Actually, from the beginning, personally, I was very sure that the title of the film would come at this point. But when I talked to my crew members and when I was getting feedback from my team and editors, at some points that were saying “why here? Let’s put at the beginning.”
Since it’s the story of a journey of the character in the mountain and the story deals about the life cycle of the mountain people and it’s talking about reincarnation, and nobody can say when exactly will be your next reincarnation. The idea was, OK, let’s put the title out of nowhere right after experiencing the intense emotions of the character.
And then we see we see the title of the film so that could destroy somehow the continuous flow of the narrative. It was a constructive idea to destroy the narrative structures.
You have you have a master’s degree in Buddhist philosophy and political science, and then you’re pursuing a PhD in anthropology. How do your studies impact your filmmaking? Do they at all?
I really don’t know. But of course, through having all this information, all this data from my study, I’m sure that really helped to build my personality, what I am now as a writer. Definitely, in that sense, it really helps. But besides that, it’s totally different way. It’s just like feeding myself. Being a human being is a completely different thing.
For example, I can imagine living my life without making films, but I never imagined my life without studying. Recently, I was thinking to study about Western philosophy to do my research on It’s also part of the PHD course. I don’t know how it will support or help for my filmmaking career, but I truly believe that that gives me something. It works as a foot for me to develop my personality, my character. And of course, as a filmmaker, as a scriptwriter, definitely, even though I can’t see those ways, but definitely it helps and it supports a lot.
That’s interesting because for me, filmmaking is so subconscious. You’re consciously writing or directing or, whatever you do in filmmaking, but a lot of it is impulse.
That’s the right term. I would say, these days, I’m very much obsessed, like aware of these two terms, impulse and exposition.
Because it’s a big challenge for me, not only for me, but I would also say it’s for Asian filmmakers, because sometimes we try to go very high, we go very extreme in order to make things understandable for the Western audience. Culture is lots of local things that are not understandable for global audience.
But it’s totally the opposite way. For Eastern audiences, most of the things what are used for Western cinema, Western literature, art. It’s very easy for us to understand. It’s because of there’s a long history of understanding Western philosophy, Western literature, all the literature from the West, like from 300 years back, like all the philosophers, the writing, all the scientists, all the writers, all the filmmakers, musicians. Like we’ve all grown up listening Beatles music.
But I’m sure none of the Western, like even Australian audiences, grew up listening to Nepalese music. Like none of them, have grown up watching like Sri Lankan films, Kazakh movies. This is the way we have to somehow to set the rules or set the formulas, the principles for the story world in terms of social cultural nuances. In that way, nowadays, I’ve realized, including me, all the young Asian young filmmakers, sometimes they might’ve made these mistakes, either of over-expositing or overexplaining.
It could really destroy the narrative, it could really destroy the story. Everything is about the explanation, the story unfolds through dialogues. So, what you said is a really interesting word.
Has there been a constant in your filmmaking? Something you’re trying to explore.
For me, it’s not only about the film. I never run towards the story that might be very interesting for the mass audience. I rather go for that kind of story, which makes me more curious. Because if the content, the idea of the story that makes me more curious, that simply means I will never get tired.
During the script writing process, the making process, because it’s my curiosity, then I need to find the answer. So, the entire process becomes so fun, so relaxing, so full of happiness and joy. That becomes part of your research, because you have lots of questions you need lots of answers.
Did you find at the end of a film everything that you want to know or is that curiosity still there? Is it a constant thing?
I don’t know. I’m also sometimes surprised because I would say it’s really not an actual process. From the start I was always dreaming to go to big festivals, always wishing to have success, to get more attention, to make more money, to be praise by critics, to praise by large audiences.
But I don’t know what happened from the very beginning of making this film. I was always thinking in a completely different way.
It’s like the process of giving birth to a child. It doesn’t have lots of choices. You can’t draw all the lines of what kind of baby you want. You cannot say, I want my baby to have blue eyes like this. You never have that choice. And who really cares about those kind of things? Rather, focus on giving birth is more important. Of course, everybody had their own needs. Everybody had their own expectations regarding to having a baby. But nobody can manipulate it.
I was always thinking if I’m happy during the making the process of this film, then it’s already more than enough. And the rest of the thing, it’s not under my control. Why should I wait for those kinds of things, which could not be changed.
It’s I would also say the difference between the Western way of thinking and Eastern way of thinking. It came to my mind once I was living in France. I was so surprised how my friends and everyone was always complaining for those kind of things that they cannot do anything for and they cannot change.
If you did like more than five or eight times, “Oh fuck, it’s raining.” Oh, shit. It’s very cold. Oh, shit. It’s very hot. Oh, shit. It’s windy. Shit. It’s snowing.” I was so surprised why they’re just complaining for nothing.
They cannot change anything. Rather, they should prepare a jacket, an umbrella, winter clothes, this and that. From that moment, I was thinking maybe this is the mentality that even we don’t know we are complaining. Now it becomes part of our habit.
For me, during making this film, I was really not sure about the future of it in terms of festivals, critics, audience, this, that. My one and only mission for me and my entire team was just to make this film that we wanted to make, the film I was dreaming to see. What it could encompass on the silver screen. That was the only mission and idea for me and my team.
Interview by Jack
Shambhala
Sydney Film Festival