The Silent Holy Stones, China's first movie in the Tibetan language and written and directed by a Tibetan, premiered on Thursday in Xining, capital of northwest China's Qinghai Province.

The 102-minute movie tells the story of a young Lama who goes home for the New Year holidays and is deeply impressed by the changes that have taken place in his village.

Wanmacaidan, the movie's director and screenwriter, said it reflects the balance between tradition and modernity, and religious devotion and simple relations among people by depicting the "silent changes" taking place in remote areas in Tibet.

Over the last few decades, Chinese filmmakers have ventured into several films about Tibet, including Serfs, Red River Valley and The Horse Thief Composer, but few were entirely in Tibetan or starred Tibetan actors.

"Most of the films lack profound insight into Tibet and Tibetans," Wanmacaidan said, adding that he'd planned to make a "pure" Tibetan film in the Tibetan language with Tibetan actors after graduating from the Beijing Film Academy.

"This film stars Tibetan actors, so we expect to show the development of the culture and society, as well as the spirit and temperament of the people who live on the Tibetan Plateau," Wanmacaidan said.

The film won the Maiden Direction Award at China's 25th Golden Rooster awards last November, as well as awards at the Busan International Film Festival and Vancouver International Film Festival.

(Xinhua News Agency June 2, 2006)