I’ve worked with Tsering Rhitar on three different films over the past 10 years and his work is brilliant. His professionalism combined with his calm demeanor, sensitivity to the creative realities of film-making and understanding of the local culture as well as the culture of the film making world, make him the perfect fixer, production coordinator, location manager, translator, and guide. However, his creative talents as a filmmaker combined with his generosity of spirit make him more of a partner in the film-making process than a hired hand and who wouldn’t rather have a brother by his side than a mercenary when making a film, particularly when working in a foreign culture.
Tsering was my opening guide to Kathmandu and Nepal while working with me on a quite tight schedule for several days, thus I remember him as much more than just a fine local producer with a quick, secure and inspired approach to the different tasks. He seems to know very well what a European journalist expects of his professional skills and is – as I would like to accentuate – a truly friendly fellow who I was sorry to quit after the work was done.
‘What Makes Me Happy’ is a television series that uses short dramatized films to represent disadvantaged children from around the world, by capturing their positive spirit and resilience. One of the program’s was shot in Pokhara, Nepal….Ranjita’s Film…and was directed by Tsering Sherpa.
To work alongside Tsering was a great opportunity and I was happy with his competence in both the technical and directorial field. He has a natural talent in working with children and the patience that is required. At the same time, he is not rigid in his directing structure and can quickly and easily adapt to accommodate.
I have kept in contact with him and used him via Mila Productions, on a further sequence connected with this series. With very little information, he contributed a very unique piece of work of children playing around the streets of Kathmandu.
He has a natural ability to instantly understand what is required which is particularly unique when crossing a cultural divide and a great bonus.
My working relationship with Tsering will definitely continue as and when the need arises.
We first worked with Tsering in 1998, during the filming of the BBC documentary, The Shadow Circus: The CIA in Tibet, when he helped us set up our shoot in Nepal and took care of the production. His understanding of the requirements of a documentary film shoot and his resourcefulness in organizing it made a difficult production schedule stress-free and enjoyable.
In 1999, we visited him on the sets of his feature film, Mukundo, and were impressed with the high standards and production values he brought to the shoot, despite the constraints of being a low budget film.
In 2003, we called upon Tsering to help us during the making of our own feature film, Dreaming Lhasa. As the Associate Producer, Tsering brought to the production, not only his experience and expertise, but also his good humor and positive personality and contributed immensely to the success of the shoot.
We look forward to collaborating with Tsering again and wish him and Mila Productions every success in their film-making ventures.