Short Film Review - Butter Lamp (La Lampe Au Beurre De Yak) (2014)

Genre:
Short, Family
Year Of Release:
2014
Origin:
China
Director:
Hu Wei
Cast:
Genden Punstock
The award-winning short, Butter Lamp (or La Lampe Au Beurre De Yak), the third film directed by Hu Wei, follows a young photographer and his assistant taking pictures of real life Tibetan Nomads. The audience, through the eye of the camera lens, sees a number of families pass through to have their picture taken against a number of utopian backdrops. A world of traditions and generations is explored, without the camera moving at all from its central location.

The film’s 15 minutes introduces us to large families, a group of rowdy young children, a young couple, an elderly woman who has never been photographed before, and the village Mayor. The backdrops, clothing and props spark very revealing conversation between the photographer and the Tibetans, as their culture, religion and lifestyle is depicted subtly and effectively.

As the backdrops, that also form the backdrop of the film, are taken away by the photographer and his assistant, the audience are finally shown the village they have set up in – a stark, yet beautiful, contrast is noted between the backdrops of paradise and the idyllic Tibetan settlement.
Director Hu Wei’s simplicity adds to the short’s realism, making it more of an insight into Tibetan traditions and lifestyle rather than a work of fiction. It perfectly blurs tradition with modern civilisation through its discovery of cultural diversity and human interaction.

The film has earned 70 prestigious film awards, including ‘Best Documentary Short’ (Raindance Film Festival) and the Grand Prize for the ‘In the Palace’ Short Film Festival. Hu Wei was praised by the committee at Cannes Film Festival, and he is currently working on his first feature-length film.

Butter Lamp is a great example of a director with a clear vision, and a wonderful reminder of how much power a photograph can hold.

Jenn Spiers