The Red Phallus

Summary

‘Don’t assume my silence is empty.’

Demons in blood-red masks stalk 16-year-old Sangay through the village at the foot of the awe-inspiring Himalayas. Her father is an artisan who holds fast to the old ways, carving phalli from wood to ward off evil spirits. He wants to protect his daughter from harm, which he does by controlling her every move. This becomes all the more pronounced once he hears of her secret affair with a married man from a lower social class, who in turn keeps pressuring her to run off to the city with him. Sangay responds with the courage to look behind the fearsome masks. Its rhythm archaic, its imagery imposing and its outcome drastic, Tashi Gyeltshen’s radical feature debut portrays one girl's bitter struggle to assert her own identity and independence.

Source: 69. Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin (Catalogue)