Living under the newly established rule of China’s one-child policy, a Tibetan couple must be careful not to have any more children. However, their two sons find a stash of condoms and parade them around town mistaking them for balloons. Not only does this outrage the entire village, but more practically: they have no more condoms. Pema Tseden deftly examines the collision between modernity and tradition in 1980s Tibet in this wryly humorous and award-winning drama.

Reviews

‘[A] mix of tranquillity, playfulness and a touch of melancholy becomes the evocative thread that runs through this leisurely film’
★★★★ Phuong Le, The Guardian

‘You come away not knowing if what you’ve seen was comedy or tragedy. Or maybe something else entirely.’
★★★★ David Jenkins, Little White Lies