Show on the road
The film is adapted from two novels. One is The Slayer by Tibetan writer Tsering Norbu, and the other is Tseden's own story, I Ran Over a Sheep.
"When I read The Slayer from Selected Stories (a monthly magazine publishing literary works), I was fascinated with its narration and the protagonist's way of seeking revenge," Tseden tells China Daily at his Beijing apartment.
But The Slayer, which consists of a few thousand words, was a bit too short to be adapted into a feature-length film.
"It takes place on the road where the lead character is a truck driver. So, the novel reminded me of my own story I Ran Over a Sheep, which also features a similar theme about redemption and savior. So, I combined the two stories to come up with the script for Jinpa," he says.
Just like most art house films, raising enough money to start filming was the main challenge.
The idea of the film was first conceived in 2000, but Tseden had been struggling to raise adequate funds to make it until 2017, when Jet Tone Films, the studio owned by Wong, agreed to finance and produce the film.
Tseden says Wong kept up discussions with him as they worked on polishing the script, and suggested they add a Tibetan proverb to make the mystical story more easily understood.
