Finding Yourself in Stories - Avatar: The Last Airbender, Identity & Tibetan Culture

Celebrate Halloween through the magic of storytelling! Join filmmaker and cultural consultant Dechen Kelden for a special interactive screening and discussion designed especially for children and families.

Audience: Recommended for children ages 8-16. All attendees, including children and accompanying parents, guardians, and family members, require a ticket.

Together, participants will watch a selected episode from the original Avatar: The Last Airbender animated series before exploring the storytelling, worldbuilding, and universal themes that have made the show beloved by audiences around the world.

Participants will discover how storytellers draw inspiration from real cultures, philosophies, and everyday life to create meaningful fictional worlds. Through guided discussion, children will explore themes such as compassion, balance, friendship, and representation while reflecting on their own families, communities, and cultural heritage.

Participants will be invited to ask questions and discover how their own experiences, traditions, and communities can become the inspiration for their own stories.

Presenter Bio:
Dechen Kelden is a Tibetan and Kalmyk Mongolian storyteller creating authentic, culturally grounded stories that resonate with diverse audiences. She serves as a cultural consultant on Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender (Paramount Pictures, 2026) and is the producer of the short film My Sweet Pala, directed by Tao Okamoto. Her stories draw from her heritage, her father, a former Tibetan monk of Nechung Monastery, seat of the State Oracle of Tibet, and her mother, a Kalmyk photographer. The Kalmyks, also known as Oirats of the Dzungar tribe, originate from western Mongolia and trace their ancestral homeland to the Altai Mountains. This lineage informs her work, grounding it in authentic cultural perspective, nuanced characters, and emotionally resonant storytelling.