Stanzin Dorjai

{{short description|Indian filmmaker}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}

{{Use Indian English|date=October 2019}}

File:StanzinDorjai.jpg

Stanzin Dorjai is an Indian documentary filmmaker from Gya in Ladakh, India. He has won many film festival awards for his film The Shepherdess of the Glaciers.

==Biography==

Dorjai was born in the village of Gya in Ladakh, in the high Indian Himalayas. He had a semi-nomadic childhood, spending half of the month tending his family’s herd of yaks and cashmere goats, while attending school during the other half.{{cite web|url=https://www.stanzindorjaigya.com/filmmaker|title=About|last1=Dorjay Gypa|first1=Stanzin|date=|website=|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=}}

His father died when Dorjai was very young, and he grew up with his mother and four elder siblings. {{Cite web |url=http://www.reachladakh.com/in-conversation-with-stanzin-dorjai-gya/3208.html |title=In Conversation With Stanzin Dorjai (Gya) |last=Barcha |first=Fatima Ashraf |date= 15 March 2016 |website=Reach Ladakh}} During his upbringing in Gya, he did not have many opportunities to watch documentary films.{{cite book |title=India Retold: Dialogues with Independent Documentary Filmmakers in India |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-1501352676 |pages=241}}

In 1995, unable to pass the necessary standardized tests to complete high school, Dorjai began attending an alternative school, SECMOL (Students Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh), where he learnt more about the visual medium. There it was able to watch more documentaries, and meet people from the film industry, including Indian filmmaker Lena Tace and Lars Lidstrom from Sweden, as well as his mentor, Mumbai based Director Rahul Randaive.{{cite book |title=India Retold: Dialogues with Independent Documentary Filmmakers in India |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-1501352676 |pages=241}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.reachladakh.com/in-conversation-with-stanzin-dorjai-gya/3208.html |title=In Conversation With Stanzin Dorjai (Gya) |last=Barcha |first=Fatima Ashraf |date= 15 March 2016 |website=Reach Ladakh}} In 2005, Dorjai received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Jammu University.{{Cite web |url=https://www.ted.com/tedx/events/9405 |title=TEDxLeh}}

In 2000, Dorjai worked as editor, executive producer and cinematographer of Tsondus, which is his first feature film. In 2006, he founded the Himalayan Film House in Leh, wherein he has directed and produced feature films and documentaries on regional, national and international issues.{{cite web |title=Himalayan Film House |url=https://www.thebetterindia.com/142367/shepherdess-stanzin-dorjai-gya-ladakh-17-international-awards/}} In 2007, Mig choo became the first film made by the studio.{{Cite web |url=http://www.reachladakh.com/in-conversation-with-stanzin-dorjai-gya/3208.html |title=In Conversation With Stanzin Dorjai (Gya) |last=Barcha |first=Fatima Ashraf |date= 15 March 2016 |website=Reach Ladakh}}

Dorjai was chosen as the District Youth Icon (Leh) by the Election Commission of India, during the Lok Sabha Elections, 2019.