This lumpen, conventional documentary charts how US-based Tenzing Rigdol, an ethnically Tibetan artist and poet born in Nepal to exiled parents, set out to create a massive installation piece in Dharamsala, India, made from 20,000kg of soil smuggled out of Tibet. Too much time is spent watching Rigdol hang around Nepal waiting for the dirt to get across the border, which is honestly only a bit more interesting than watching someone waiting for a parcel. Inspired by his father’s dying wish to set foot on his homeland before he died, the earnest artist clearly wants to make a big statement about Tibetan refugees, Chinese oppression and nostalgia. But he’s not necessarily the most eloquent exponent of his work, and ultimately you can’t help wondering if he’s being a teensy bit disingenuous about his motives. By the time exiled Tibetan schoolkids are brought on to tread the hallowed ground and the Dalai Lama gives Rigdol his blessing, it all starts feeling manipulative as well as banal.
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