Tibetannet

Purbu Tsering sells traditional Tibetan snacks on a busy pilgrim route in downtown Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet autonomous region. A jolly old man and a devout Buddhist, he lives a simple life with his wife.

Meanwhile, Nyima, who left her life as a shepherd in her hometown far away to become a teahouse waitress in Lhasa, makes her way through the city, fighting homesickness.

La Hai, a Han migrant from China's interior, runs a grocery store in Lhasa and longs to make big money. Every day he puts on a brave face despite struggling with stress, insecurity and a sense of emptiness.

All three are regular citizens on Tsekhor, a major pilgrim route around the Potala Palace in the heart of Lhasa. Their stories are being told by Tenzin Sedon, a young Tibetan documentary filmmaker.

"I want to show, through their backgrounds and experience in Lhasa, how different people are linked in Tibet, a land of opportunities," said the 25-year-old in an interview with Xinhua.

She is passionate about profiling common citizens and providing plain, undecorated narration.

"I try to explore and display what's going on in Tibet from the perspectives of ordinary people," she said. "Many filmmakers and critics tend to depict Tibet as a romantic and mysterious land, but I'd rather give an objective account. I hope my films are like a mirror through which everyone, Tibetans and non-Tibetans, can see themselves," she said.

Production on Tsekhor, Sedon's latest work - her third documentary, but the first set in Tibet - has entered the final stage and the film is due to be released before the end of June. "I'm making some finishing touches to make the stories of the three into an integral whole," she said.

Sedon shot her first two documentaries, A Taste of Life and The Horse and Horseman, while she was studying media arts at Plymouth University in the United Kingdom.

She began shooting Tsekhor shortly after she returned to Lhasa in 2014.

"The experience is far more challenging," she said. "This time it's not an assignment; I have to do all the screening, editing, dubbing and promotion work myself.

"When you're off to do something new, you may feel unsure, or even question your own ability," she added. "I just tell myself - time and again - that I must carry on and never forget why I am doing this."

Sedon was born to a well-to-do family in Lhasa. Her father works at the local cultural heritage bureau and her mother served in the People's Liberation Army before retiring and starting her own business. "They always support me in everything I do, knowing all the while that I will go for it and enjoy the whole process," Sedon said.

Tibetan documentary filmmaker Tenzin Sedon works in the field. Provided to China Daily