Huatse Gyal: "'Khata: Poison or Purity?' Documentary Film Screening and Discussion

Film screening of Khata: Poison or Purity?, followed by a discussion with director Dr. Huatse Gyal and Prof. James Gentry.

Khata: Poison or Purity?

Across the Tibetan plateau, Khata (ceremonial scarves) and prayer flags flutter in the thin air, representing blessings, devotion, and sincerity. However, these sacred items now have taken on a darker legacy. Made from petroleum-based polyester, discarded prayer flags and Khata litter the grasslands, harming livestock and contaminating rivers. How did these revered objects become an environmental threat? Who produces them, and from what materials? Who is primarily responsible for this issue? This ethnographic documentary film explores the journey of Khata from mass production to waste in an era dominated by synthetic chemical fibers. Through the eyes of Indigenous Tibetan pastoralists witnessing the death of their animals and the contamination of their landscapes, the film raises an urgent question: Can something be both holy and harmful?

About the director:

Dr. Huatse Gyal is a filmmaker and an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Rice University. He has published peer-reviewed articles in international journals, including Critical Asian Studies, Nomadic Peoples, and Ateliers d’anthropologie. Dr. Gyal is the co-editor of the first English volume titled Resettlement among Tibetan Nomads in China (2015) and recently co-edited a special issue called Translating Across the Bardo: Centering the Richness of Tibetan Language in Tibetan Studies (2024). In 2023, he released his first feature-length documentary film titled Khata: Poison or Purity? Dr. Gyal is enthusastic about multimodal forms of knowledge production and looks forward to collaborating with students and colleagues who share this passion.

Prof. James Gentry is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies. He specializes in Tibetan Buddhism, with particular focus on the literature and history of its Tantric traditions. He is the author of Power Objects in Tibetan Buddhism: The Life, Writings, and Legacy of Sokdokpa Lodrö Gyeltsen, which examines the roles of Tantric material and sensory objects in the lives and institutions of Himalayan Buddhists.