Lunana, A yak in the classroom
Bhutan / Color / 109' / 2019 9+
A young teacher in modern Bhutan, Ugyen, shirks his duties while planning to go to Australia to become a singer. As a reprimand, his superiors send him to the most remote school in the world, in a village called Lunana, to complete his service. He finds himself exiled from his Westernized comforts after an arduous 8 day trek just to get there. There he finds no electricity, no textbooks, not even a blackboard. Though poor, the villagers a warm welcome to their new teacher, but he faces the daunting task of teaching the village children without any supplies . He wants to quit and go home, but he begins to learn of the hardship in the lives of the beautiful children he teaches, and begins to be transformed through the amazing spiritual strength of the villagers.
Pawo Choyning Dorji
He is a writer, photographer and filmmaker from the Kingdom of Bhutan. His introduction to film came in 2012 when he worked as Khyentse Norbu's assistant for the later's feature; "Vara: A Blessing". In 2016 he produced the critically acclaimed Bhutanese feature. The film had its world premiere at the 69th Festival del film Locarno and went on to win the Special Mention at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival. "Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom" is his Directorial debut.
Cast & Crew
- direction: Pawo Choyning Dorji
- Screenplay: Pawo Choyning Dorji
- Cinematography: Jigme Tenzing
- Editing: Ku Hsiao-Yun
- Sound Design: Duu-Chih Tu
- Film Cast: Sherab Dorji, Ugyen Norbu Lhendup, Kelden Lhamo Gurung, Pema Zam
- producer:: Pawo Choyning Dorji, Steven Xiang, Stephanie Lai, Jia Honglin
- original language: Dzongkha
English