100 Sunset

100 Sunset is set entirely in Toronto’s “Little Tibet”, a neighbourhood around Parkdale that is home to the largest Tibetan exile community in North America. Yet in Kunsang Kyirong’s feature film, we encounter none of the stereotypical cultural clichés. Instead, we witness the quiet, everyday lives of migrants for whom Parkdale’s grey high-rise apartment blocks are often their first home in Canada.

Shy and taciturn Kunsel steals valuables from her neighbours, including a video camera she uses to watch, from her apartment window, a newly arrived woman in the building opposite who is unhappy in her marriage. Ironically, this very couple benefits from the Dhukuti, a traditional informal savings and credit system in Tibet. In this case, neighbours contribute to a shared fund, with one member receiving the accumulated savings in rotation at regular intervals, providing seed money to help build a better life.