Film Screening: "Snow Leopard Sisters" (2025)

You’re invited to movie night at the Asian Art Museum! In partnership with the Snow Leopard Conservancy, join us for a screening of the new documentary film “Snow Leopard Sisters” (2025, 95 min). Following the screening, join Swosti Kayastha, Fulbright Visiting Scholar at the Asian Art Museum, along with Tshiring Lhamu Lama, Sonam Choekyi  Lama, Tenzin Bhuti Gurung, and Ashleigh Lutz-Nelson for a Q&A session.

Schedule

5:30 PM | Doors open
6:00 PM | Film screening
7:45 PM  | Q&A with Swosti Kayastha, Tshiring Lhamu Lama, Sonam Choekyi Lama, Tenzin Bhuti Gurung, and Ashleigh Lutz-Nelson

Reserved seating is available for Patron and Friend level members. Tickets available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Need help registering? Email [email protected].

About the Film

The Snow Leopard Conservancy is proud to be the impact partner for the documentary “Snow Leopard Sisters,” featuring the work of our longstanding local partner Tshiring Lhamu Lama and her ground-breaking conservation efforts to preserve the snow leopard population in her home district of Dolpo, Nepal. We are working together to reduce retaliatory killings through local education programming, construction of predator-proof corrals, and establishing a green local economy enmeshed with snow leopard conservation.

Directors: Ben Ayers, Sonam Choekyi, Andrew Lynch
Writers: Ben Ayers, Andrew Lynch

Meet the Speakers

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  Swosti Rajbhandari Kayastha recently joined the museum as a (2024–2025 Fulbright Visiting Scholar. Focusing on Nepali cultural heritage studies, Swosti brings a deeply informed perspective on both Nepali artistic traditions and contemporary practices. As Curator at the Nepal Art Council, she has organized and curated exhibitions both national and international. She is an Executive Board member of the Patan Museum and a Senate member of Lumbini Buddhist University. Her work at the Asian Art Museum will create connections within the Bay Area’s  vibrant Nepali diaspora, with a particular focus on artists.

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  Tshiring Lhamu Lama is the founding director of Snow Leopard Journey and “Snow Leopard Sisters,” and is on the frontlines of snow leopard conservation in the Dolpo Himalayas. Through innovative, sustainable, and practical projects, she works to encourage, empower, engage, and employ local youth by promoting eco-tourism, sustainable livelihoods, and environmental education. Tshiring’s efforts aim not only to shift local perceptions of the snow leopard, transforming it from a threat into a vital asset for both conservation and community well-being, but also to end the retaliatory killings of snow leopards in the Dolpo Himalayas.

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  Sonam Choekyi  Lama is a director and cinematographer from the remote region of Dolpo, Nepal in the Himalayas. Along with renowned filmmakers Andrew Lynch and Ben Ayers, Choekyi directed “Snow Leopard Sisters,” which made its world premiere debut at SXSW on International Women’s Day, March 8, 2025 in Austin, Texas. In her directorial debut, Choekyi’s knowledge of the culture and landscape brings an authentic, raw, and emotional understanding to the screen. In 2024, Choekyi accepted a directorial scholarship to the Documentary Visual School at the International Center of Photography in New York City.  

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  Tenzin Bhuti Gurung is a young woman from the remote village of Komang, Dolpo. She only studied until class 5, when she was compelled to leave her studies to support her family. She is the only surviving daughter of five children. After training with Tshiring, Tenzin also completed training as a trekking guide and conservationist. She looks forward to a long and fruitful career in tourism and conservation in her beloved homeland of Dolpo. 

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  Ashleigh Lutz-Nelson is the Executive Director of the Snow Leopard Conservancy. She has more than two decades of experience in wildlife behavior, welfare and conservation, specializing in wild felines. Ashleigh works with global conservation alliances and focuses on fostering compassionate coexistence between people and wildlife.  

About the Snow Leopard Conservancy

Snow Leopard Conservancy partners with local conservationists, range country and international organizations, and mountain communities living with snow leopards. We invest in solutions that save the lives of snow leopards and other predators from the consequence of human-wildlife conflict and build a long term foundation of coexistence, guardianship, and self-reliance.

Visit the Snow Leopard Conservancy’s website for more information about the Snow Leopard Sisters Impact Campaign. 

Images: Courtesy Noah Media Group