My Sweet Pala
Directed by Tao Okomoto- United States
- Narrative Short
- English
- 2025
- 22 mins
- North American premiere
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shareEleven-year-old Pema is so busy making friends – and pressuring her parents into letting them come over to their house for playdates and sleepovers – that she doesn’t think that her Tibetan heritage makes her any different than her other American classmates. Her stay-at-home father Kelsang and nurse mother also try to give their daughter a sense of normalcy, but they can’t quite protect her from small microaggressions which quickly escalate into racist misunderstandings.
My Sweet Pala is a tender story directed by Tao Okamoto (Sun & Moon), who is a Hollywood acting veteran with roles in Wolverine, Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Westworld and Hannibal. Tibetan producer Dechen Kelden served as a cultural consultant on Avatar: The Last Airbender.
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