Club Movie Screening: Playing Basketball on the Tibetan Plateau

Life is changing in Ritoma, a Tibetan village in Gansu Province where nomads are leaving the grasslands to learn new skills. Another sign of the times: They are wild about basketball and the NBA. They’ve built a court and even have their own team, coached by a 6-foot-8 American (women are starting to play, too). Academy Award winner Ruby Yang takes us along as the team prepares for a regional tournament they plan to host – and perhaps even win. Shot amid stunning scenery, this 57-minute film is an uplifting look at the tension between preserving culture and adapting to the modern world. Watch the trailer for “Ritoma” here.

Yang has worked as director, producer and editor on a range of feature and documentary films exploring Chinese themes. In 2007, she won the Oscar for Documentary Short Subject for “The Blood of Yingzhou District,” about a village where hundreds contracted HIV in a blood-selling scandal. She is also known for her feature documentary “Citizen Hong Kong” and the award-winning documentary “My Voice, My Life.”