Artist Profile

Dechen Roder

dechen roder

Dechen Roder (born 1980, Bumthang, Bhutan) has been making small documentaries and films since 2004. In 2011, she made her first fiction short An Original Photocopy of Happiness which won  Jury Mention at the Hong Kong ifva Awards 2012 and was nominated for Best Short Film at the  Brussels International Independent Film Festival. Dechen is also the co-founder and organizer of the first and only documentary and short film festival in Bhutan, Beskop Tshechu. Lo Sum Choe  Sum is her third short fiction. She is currently developing her first feature film.

Featured Work

3 Year 3 month Retreat

2015, 20 mins, Bhutan

The traditional “3 Year 3 Month Retreat” or “Lo-Sum-Choe-Sum” is practised by Buddhist monks,  nuns and other devout practitioners. 3 years, 3 months, and 3 days are calculated as the time needed to achieve a higher state of clarity and motivation. By cutting oneself off from the world, and delving into the inner mind, the retreat is supposed to transform the practitioner. Can Lhamo, a  young, wounded girl facing the harsh gaze of the world, find her own form of retreat and redemption?