TCFF: Next Life

Synopsis: A Tibetan family seeks moments of 'temporary happiness' amid feelings of loss as their father succumbs to a mysterious illness that Western medicine cannot cure. A Tibetan doctor intervenes, listens carefully to his pulse, delivering an irrevocable diagnosis. Next Life portrays the family navigating liminal spaces between the psychological and spiritual realms with depth and nuance, encompassing spectral landscapes of inner and virtual worlds against an American backdrop. Frozen moments of memory, and the quiet suspension between reality and the afterlife, the film carries us through the Bardo. Following the father's death, the family cares for the deceased and prepares both him and themselves for the next life—embracing the Tibetan concept of "Tse Chema" (reincarnation).