Synopsis

This is a story about how people and animals finally get along. A snow leopard breaks into the sheep pen of a nomad and kills nine rams. Father and son then argue: the son insists on killing the snow leopard, but the father insists on releasing it.

Curator’s Note

Snow Leopard is an extraordinary vision of human relations with other animals. More specifically, it sets out the complex dynamics of animal conservation and Tibetan-Chinese relations in the People’s Republic of China today in an exciting and sometimes confronting story. A local Tibetan television crew, composed of three Tibetans and a Han Chinese cameraperson eagerly learning Tibetan, cover a breaking story about a snow leopard captured by a local herder after it has killed nine of his rams. The herder wants to kill what he refers to as ‘the beast’. His father argues that killing sheep is in the leopard’s nature, and that killing it will store up bad karma. Local officials and later the police arrive, insisting that the leopard is top of the national protected species list and must be released. And then there is ‘Snow Leopard Monk’, brother of the angry herder. Fascinated by photographing wildlife, it turns out he has a special relationship with this particular snow leopard. (MINT CFF special film reviewer, Chris Berry)

Director’s bio

Director’s Note

Festival & Awards

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