Next Life tells the story of a Tibetan family seeking moments of “temporary happiness” while living in exile in suburban America. As their father suffers from a mysterious inner pain, they turn to Buddhist medicine and spiritual teachings on death and rebirth, embracing the Tibetan concept of "Tse Chema" (reincarnation).

2026 / 73 mins / USA & Mexico

English, Tibetan & Mandarin with English subtitles

Director: Tenzin Phuntsog

Producer: Tenzin Phuntsog, Jonathan Witz

Executive Producers: Carlos Reygadas, Ben Conrad

Editor: Tenzin Phuntsog

Cinematographer: Tenzin Phuntsog

Assistant Director: Jonathan Witz

Cast: Tsewang Migyur Khangsar, Tsekyi Dolma Phuntsog, Tenzin Phurpatsang, Sonam Gagya, Konchok Tenzin, Lobsang Tashi,Yanbin Zhao

Post-Production and Sound Services: Splendor Omnia Studios

Sound Supervisor: Maluz Orozco

Sound Design: Arturo "Frosty" Salazar, María Alejandra Rojas, Maluz Orozco

Foley Artist: Caracola

Colorist: Mariano Rentería Garnica

Lab Services: Meseta Post

Post-Production Coordinator: Javier Uriel González Benavides

VFX: Hyphenate (Travis Button, Douglas Riggs)

Film Lab Processing and Scanning: Fotokem

Production Companies: Plateaux Films, Splendor Omnia Studios

Tenzin Phuntsog (Director, Producer, Editor, Cinematographer) 

Tenzin Phuntsog is an award-winning artist and filmmaker working across moving image, narrative film, and installation. Centered in a Tibetan diasporic gaze, his practice explores themes of landscape, presence, and belonging. Critics recognize his work for its innovative use of 35mm, in which he lenses his own projects with a singular sensibility. Throughout his body of work, his interest in technology and its capacity to transform perception—mediating the quotidian and sublime, as well as distance and time—remains evident. He founded and directs the Tibet Film Archive, a collection of rare and historical films shot inside Tibet before the occupation and through the early exile years. Phuntsog earned his MFA in Visual Art from Columbia University in New York and his BFA in Media Art from UCLA in Los Angeles.

He is represented by Microscope Gallery in New York, where he has had two solo exhibitions. Institutions worldwide have exhibited and screened his works, including at the Berlinale Forum Expanded, International Film Festival Rotterdam, FIDMarseille, The Tang Museum, Eye Filmmuseum, The Haus for Media Art Oldenburg, Seoul Media City Biennale, European Media Arts Festival EMAF, Camden Film Festival, Experimenta India, BlackStar, and REDCAT in Los Angeles. Phuntsog has received numerous honors, including being selected as a Flaherty Fellow, Haus of Media Art Grant Recipient, and NARS New York Artist in Residence. He also consulted for the Prince Claus Funds in Amsterdam.

Tenzin is currently developing his second feature film titled Sentient Beings with support from SFFILM.