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Lunana: A Yak In The Classroom Photo: Courtesy of London Film Festival January 24 marks the United Nations’ International Day of Education, which emphasises education as a human right and a public responsibility. Although it offers a way out of poverty and a route to peace and development, there are still estimated to be about 244 million children and adolescents around the world who are not in school - and you can read more about the Un’s activities on the subject here . If there’s one thing that cinema across the world loves it’s an inspirational teacher - so we’ve rounded up a handful of the best that you can stream at home.

Luana: A Yak In The Classroom, BBC iPlayer

This sweet-centred drama became the first film from Bhutan to reach the Oscars short-list, although it took two attempts since it was disqualified on a technicality the first...

The first-ever World Culture Film Festival (Wcff) dazzled Los Angeles over the weekend with its international roster of films and star-studded lineup of honorees. Hosted by the Art of Living Foundation at the Regal Cinemas, the four-day event brought over 60 films from around the globe to the silver screen while recognizing visionary talents pushing boundaries in global cinema.

Among those shining brightly were Avenger star Tom Holland and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Pawo Choyning Dorji. Holland earned the festival’s Outstanding Achievement in the Performing Arts award for his directorial debut “Last Call,” a tense family drama he helmed alongside brother Harry. Accepting the honor on his behalf, Sony Pictures Executive VP Palak Patel praised Holland’s commitment to evolving behind the camera and supporting independent voices.

Dorji’s impact stretched even farther as he picked up two top prizes. His drama “The Monk and the Gun,” set amid Bhutan’s transition to democracy,...

Updated with precise wording of awards categories from World Culture Film Festival. Actor Tom Holland and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Pawo Choyning Dorji were among the awards recipients as the World Culture Film Festival wrapped its inaugural edition in Los Angeles.

Holland’s short film Last Call, directed by his brother Harry, screened on Saturday at the festival, a four-day event that describes its mission as showcasing “entertainment that uplifts.” He was honored with the Wcff Legacy Award For Performing Arts. See below for the full list of awards.

Accepting on Holland’s behalf was Palak Patel, EVP of Sony Pictures Entertainment, who told the awards show audience he has known the 28-year-old star for quite some time.

Tom Holland in ‘In the Heart of the Sea.’

“When Tom was 14 years old,...

The inaugural World Culture Film Festival kicks off in Los Angeles Thursday, a four-day event “dedicated to showcasing films that inspire, educate, and celebrate diverse cultures.”

Wcff opens with Oscar-shortlisted dramedy The Monk and the Gun, directed by Pawo Choyning Dorji. The Bhutanese filmmaker — whose Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom earned a 2022 Academy Award nomination for Best International Film — will be present for a Q&a to follow The Monk and the Gun screening.

The festival closes with Wim Wenders’ Oscar-nominated Perfect Days, a drama about Hirayama (Koji Yakusho), a man who cleans Tokyo’s public toilets, which are renowned for their immaculate appearance.

‘Perfect Days’

“Hirayama clearly derives enjoyment from performing his work well,” the New York Times wrote in a rave review, “but there’s more to his life than labor, and more to this movie than a simplistic celebration of manual toil.”

The Wcff program includes more than 60 films,...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Ampas) has invited 487 artists and executives to become members, with Sandra Huller, Justin Triet, Celine Song and Da’Vine Joy Randolph among the high profile invitees.

Also invited to join are actors Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Fiona Shaw, directors Alice Diop, David Yates and S S Rajamouli, and writers Arthur Harari and Tony McNamara.

Executives invited to join that branch of the Academy include British Film Institute CEO Ben Roberts and Fifth Season co-CEOs Chris Rice and Graham Taylor.

Among those invited to join the costume designers branch are Holly Waddington and Małgorzata Karpiuk.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Ampas) has invited 487 artists and executives to become members, with Sandra Huller, Justin Triet, Celine Song and Da’Vine Joy Randolph among the high profile invitees.

Also invited to join are actors Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Fiona Shaw, directors Alice Diop, David Yates and S S Rajamouli, and writers Arthur Harari and Tony McNamara.

Executives invited to join that branch of the Academy include British Film Institute CEO Ben Roberts and Fifth Season co-CEOs Chris Rice and Graham Taylor.

Among those invited to join the costume designers branch are Holly Waddington and Małgorzata Karpiuk.

During the latest years, we have seen a number of very interesting films from Bhutan, with “Lunana”, “Hema Hema” and “Honeygiver Among the Dogs” being the most renowned. As such, delving a bit deeper into the cinema of the country does sound like a very interesting endeavor, with Beskop Tshechu Festival offering a great opportunity through a selection of local short films. First in order, 20-minute “Silent Walls”

“Silent Walls” is screening at Beskop Tshechu

Deki is a deaf girl living in Punakha, in rural Bhutan, along with her father, Karma, and younger brother, since her mother has passed. Karma takes care of her but cannot really understand her, and things become much worse when she menstruates for the first time. Following the advice of a woman running a shop where he shamefully buys sanitary pads for her, who mentions that he should be wary of men trying to get advantage of her situation,...

Pawo Choyning Dorji behind the scenes of The Monk and the Gun. All images courtesy of Roadside Attractions

by Chad Kennerk

His name means ‘the brave one’. It’s a fitting description for the youngest recipient of Bhutan's highest civilian award, The Druk Thuksey (The Heart Son of the Thunder Dragon). The son of a diplomat and a student of the world, Bhutanese filmmaker Pawo Choyning Dorji has lived in places as varied as the Middle East, Switzerland, India, and Appleton, Wisconsin, where he received his degree in Political Science. Dorji began his career as a photographer, telling stories through pictures. His love of photography and writing eventually took a natural evolution into moving pictures.

Through his work as a filmmaker and photographer, Dorji is on a mission to share Bhutan and Bhutanese culture with the world. His directorial debut, Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom, captured worldwide attention. The...

It’s a weekend of well-reviewed indie openings with Bleecker Street’s Out Of Darkness, The Monk And The Gun (from the directors of Lunana: A Yak In The Classroom) and limited openings for The Taste Of Things, Perfect Days (Best International Feature nominated), Anthony Chen’s Drift, Bas Devos’ Here and Ennio by Giuseppe Tornatore, which premiered in Venice in 2021 and is finally getting a U.S. release.

Wim Wenders’ Perfect Days, Japan’s official Oscar submission that nabbed a nom, opened at six locations in New York and LA Wednesday, adding additional cities next week. The film written by Wenders and Takuma Takasaki stars Hirayama, a public toilet cleaner in Tokyo who seems utterly content with his simple life until a series of unexpected encounters reveal more of his unearthed past. See Deadline review.

Neon had a qualifying run in November.

There is very little written in the English language about the cinema of Bhutan, with only the broadest overviews of this still-emerging industry to be found at a glance. Not producing its first feature until the 1990s––and not producing one shot entirely within its borders until 2003––means that Bhutanese cinema is still finding a distinct voice. The biggest hits from this era have barely been seen outside the country for this reason; many were direct remakes of films from neighboring India, with any original efforts hampered by an overreliance on copying a perceived Bollywood “formula.”

Like most Western viewers, I don’t have any direct experience of Bhutanese films beyond the work of the country’s leading filmmaker Pawo Choyning Dorji, whose 2019 debut Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom quite literally put the cinema of his homeland on the map following its surprise Oscar nomination. However, a brief overview...

After his first success “Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom,” Oscar nominee Pawo Choyning Dorji's second feature-length fiction film is a likable, if not overwhelming, comedy. While his directorial debut was nominated for Best International Feature Film at the 2021 Academy Awards, the first Bhutanese movie to be so recognized, Dorji's second production is also making its way around the world, including being nominated for the next Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Film category.

The Monk and the Gun is currently screening on cinemas, courtesy of Roadside Attractions

Kingdom of Bhutan, 2006. Bhutan becomes the last country in the world to connect to the Internet and television, and now the biggest change of all: democracy. To teach the people how to vote, the authorities organize a mock election in which the locals show their inexperience and lack of conviction. Traveling to rural Bhutan, where religion is more popular than politics,...

If you’ve read this month’s preview earlier this week, you already know there are two very different wide releases this weekend. Read on for Gold Derby’s box office preview.

First up, there’s the new Matthew Vaughn spy action-comedy “Argylle,” based on a recently released book by one Elly Conway, presumed to be a pseudonym for another famous author, who sold the rights to Vaughn to make this movie even before the book’s release just a few weeks back.

Going by the trailer, there’s a bit of a mystery in the book and movie surrounding the identity of the film’s titular secret agent, but Vaughn has another stacked cast, including Bryce Dallas Howard as “Conway” with Henry Cavill playing “Argylle,” and the likes of Sam Rockwell, Bryan Cranston, Samuel L. Jackson, Catherine O’Hara, John Cena, Sofia Boutella and even pop star Dua Lipa. The...

After the cinematic doldrums of January, February brings surprisingly packed, varied offerings, from Oscar-contending international features to biographical documentaries of legendary film artists to some electrifying genre outings. Check out my picks to see below, and catch up with our Sundance coverage ahead of our Berlinale reviews here.

16. The Monk and the Gun (Pawo Choyning Dorji; Feb. 9)

Returning after his Oscar-nominated directorial debut Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom, Pawo Choyning Dorji’s Ifsn Advocate Award-shortlisted The Monk and the Gun premiered at Telluride and TIFF to much acclaim and will now be released this month. Selected by Bhutan as their Oscar entry, the heartwarming film is about an American in search of a long-lost, vintage gun in Bhutan as the country’s launching a democracy.

15. Ennio (Giuseppe Tornatore; Feb. 9)

The film world lost perhaps its most legendary musician when Ennio Morricone died at the age of 91 in July 2020. Cinema Paradiso director Giuseppe Tornatore,...

As awards season switches up a gear, with the handing out of the Golden Globes and the publication of the Bafta shortlists, one major title stands out in the International categories of both: Justine Triet’s Palme d’Or winning courtroom drama Anatomy of a Fall. It would be a reasonable bet for the Oscar win in any year — if it were actually eligible. In lieu of Triet’s film, which fell well within Academy rules in terms of the amount of English spoken, the French selection panel opted instead for period gourmet drama The Taste of Things to do battle for the country’s honor, a move that is sure to cause a lot of confusion in the coming weeks.

Otherwise, the release of the international shortlist came with very few surprises this year, but perhaps chief among them was an unexpected snub for the Palestinian entry Bye Bye Tiberias by Lina Soulem.

Bookmark this page for the latest updates in the territory.

Screen is listing the 2023 release dates for films in the UK and Ireland in the calendar below.

For distributors who wish to add/amend a date on the calendar, please get in touch with Screen here. Screen is also running a calendar for festival and market dates throughout 2023 here.

December

December 31

Berliner Philharmoniker Live: New Year’s Eve Concert 2023 (Trafalgar - event cinema)

Previous releases January

January 6

Piggy (Vertigo), The Enforcer (Vertigo), Alcarràs (Mubi), A Man Called Otto (Sony), Rashomon (BFI), Till (Universal)

January 7

Andre Rieu In Dublin 2023 (Piece of...

The shortlist of 15 films set to vie for a Best International Feature Film Oscar nomination only has a few surprises in the mix.

Firstly, there are a couple of crossovers with films also included on the documentary shortlist: Ukraine’s 20 Days in Mariupol and Tunisia’s Four Daughters. At the same time, Morocco’s The Mother of All Lies, also eligible in documentary, landed a shortlist slot only in International Feature.

For Ukraine, this is the first inclusion on an International Feature shortlist. For a narrative feature, same goes for Armenia with Michael A. Goorjian’s Amerikatsi.

Bhutan, here with The Monk and the Gun, is a comer. After landing the country’s first advancement in 2021 with Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom, director Pawo Choyning Dorji is again in the mix.

Related: Oscar Doc Shortlist Scores & Shockers: ‘American Symphony Earns Trifecta, But Two Doc Legends Snubbed

A surprise here is Iceland’s Godland,...

With the 2024 Oscars shortlists for 10 categories arriving in late December, one key element to look out for is the international contenders with the legs to make it into categories past Best International Feature Film. This time last year, Netflix’s “All Quiet on the Western Front” established itself as a possible Best Picture nominee with multiple craft mentions, and by the March ceremony, the Edward Berger film collected the majority of Academy Awards given to below-the-line artisans.

This year, lightning may strike twice, as established Hollywood filmmaker J.A. Bayona’s “Society of the Snow” (Netflix), Spain’s official submission for Best International Feature Film, landed on four shortlists. A last-minute premiere at the Venice Film Festival, the moving retelling of the harrowing story of how the Uruguayan rugby team survived a plane crash in the Andes in 1972 has been building momentum as a must-watch among voters this holiday season.

Still...

Shortlists announced in 10 categories for 96th Academy Awards.

The Academy has announced shortlists in 10 categories for the 96th Oscars in March 2024, with The Taste Of Things (France), Fallen Leaves (Finland), The Zone Of Interest (UK), Totem (Mexico), and Amerikatsi, Armenia’s first entry on the shortlist, among those making the cut in the international feature film category.

The international contest also sees Pawo Choyning Dorji’s drama The Monk And The Gun becomes Bhutan’s second film to make the shortlist after his Oscar nominee Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom from two seasons ago.

A strong showing by European...

A range of subjects, ranging from hot button to mystical, await Academy voters considering the contenders from South Asia in the international feature category.

The most visible film from the region is certainly Bhutan’s “The Monk and the Gun,” Pawo Choyning Dorji‘s follow-up to the Oscar-nominated “Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom.” In the film, Dorji uses the first elections in one of the world’s youngest democracies to comment on what is lost as his country modernizes. The Variety critics pick, following its festival premieres at Telluride, Toronto, Rome and Busan, sold to a raft of major territories worldwide, including Roadside Attractions in the U.S.

Another South Asian feature in the Oscar race that’s striking a high profile is Pakistani-Canadian filmmaker Zarrar Kahn’s “In Flames,” Pakistan’s entry to the category. The film debuted at the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, kicking off a stellar festival run including Toronto,...

Deadline’s Contenders Film: International award-season event launches Saturday beginning at 9 a.m. Pt, the latest in our series of showcases that this time turns the focus toward global cinema via discussions with the casts and creatives of 12 movies submitted by their countries for the 2024 Academy Awards’ International Feature race.

Click to sign up for and watch today’s livestream.

The 2023 Oscar ceremony was a triumph for international film. Going into the ceremony, Edward Berger’s All Quiet on the Western Front was a winner already, having earned a spectacular seven nominations. If that wasn’t enough, it came away with four statuettes: one for International Feature, and three for Cinematography, Music and Production Design. Clearly this can’t happen every year, but, like Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite before it, Berger’s World War I epic proved that boundaries are being broken down, and international film, once synonymous with arthouse,...

With awards season around the corner, it’s time for countries to select the Best International Feature Film for the Oscars. Bhutan’s pick? Pawo Choyning Dorji‘s “The Monk And The Gun,” which had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival earlier this year. Haven’t heard of that, or don’t think it will make the cut in nominations? Not so fast. Dorji’s previous film, 2019’s “Lunana: A Yak In The Classroom” was nominated for the Oscar that year.

Continue reading ‘The Monk And The Gun’ Trailer: Pawo Choyning Dorji’s Telluride Favorite & Oscar Hopeful Hits Theaters On February 2 at The Playlist.

Returning after his Oscar-nominated directorial debut Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom, Pawo Choyning Dorji’s Ifsn Advocate Award-shortlisted The Monk and the Gun premiered at Telluride and TIFF to much acclaim. Selected by Bhutan as their Oscar entry, the film about an American in search of a long-lost, vintage gun in Bhutan as they are in the midst of launching a democracy will open on February 2 and now the first trailer has arrived.

Here’s the synopsis: “The Monk and The Gun captures the wonder and disruption as Bhutan becomes one of the world’s youngest democracies. Known throughout the world for its extraordinary beauty and its emphasis on Gross National Happiness, the remote Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan was the last nation to connect to the internet and television. And if that weren’t enough change, the King announced shortly afterwards that he would cede his power to the...

"Why would a monk take our gun?" Roadside Attr. has unveiled the US trailer for the exceptional new film The Monk and The Gun made in the remote mountainous country of Bhutan by Bhutanese filmmaker Pawo Choyning Dorji (who was already nominated for an Oscar for his last film Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom). This premiered at the 2023 Telluride & Toronto Film Festivals and is also Bhutan's submission to the Oscars this year, of course. I had a chance to see the film and Loved it. An elderly lama, recognizing that extraordinary change is about to sweep through his country as they are introducing democratic voting, is troubled by the possible outcomes. He instructs his young disciple Tashi to set forth into the kingdom and bring him two guns before the full moon to "set it right." His quest brings him into contact with a scheming American gun collector Ron,...

When Pawo Choyning Dorji launched his filmmaking career with 2021’s Oscar-nominated hit “Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom,” his ability to capture the nuances of life in Bhutan was instantly apparent. His sophomore feature, “The Monk and the Gun,” continues his artistic exploration of the evolving South Asian nation.

The film takes place in 2008 during the run-up to Bhutan’s first democratic elections, following the residents of a small Bhutanese village as the unstoppable wave of Western pop culture and values begins to wash over the residents’ lives. As villagers are taught how to vote, a lama asks one of his monks to bring him a rare antique rifle at the same time that a wealthy American gun collector attempts to purchase it. The film becomes a timely call to use nonviolence as a cornerstone when building a new form of government.

While the success of “Lunana” opened doors for...

Bhutan’s official Oscar entry “The Monk and the Gun,” Pawo Choyning Dorji‘s follow-up to “Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom,” has been acquired by more distributors in key territories.

Rolling off premieres at Telluride, Toronto, Rome and Busan, the crowdpleaser has been acquired by Mfa+ Distribution, Edko Films (Hong Kong, Macau), Officine Ubu (Italy) and Maxam Inc. (Japan). The film is represented by Films Boutique in international markets. The movie was also acquired by Roadside Attraction for the U.S. in a deal negotiated with UTA, which is repping the film in North America.

Previous deals were scored with Pyramide Distribution (France), September Films (Benelux), Rialto Distribution (Australia), Future Films (Scandinavia), A Contracorriente (Spain), Lev Films (Israel), Aurora Films (Poland), Trigon (Switzerland), Alambique Films (Portugal) and Impact Films (India and Indian Subcontinent).

“The Monk and the Gun” is set in the Kingdom of Bhutan in 2006. Modernization has finally...

The submissions for this year’s Oscar for best international feature include some of the best of world cinema. Below is a rundown of the entries for the 96th Academy Awards. The 15-title shortlist is slated to arrive on Dec. 21, prior to the nominations announcement on Jan. 23 and the ceremony itself, which is dated for March 10.

Albania

Alexander

Director: Ardit Sadiku

Logline: A documentary about an engineer who, after being fired by the navy for dissidence, hijacked a warship to get himself an dhis family to freedom.

Prodco: Ardit Sadiku Film

Argentina

The Delinquents

Director: Rodrigo Moreno

Logline: A ticklish, gently surreal saga following two colleagues who collude in robbing the bank where they work.

U.S. distribution: Mubi

Armenia

Amerikatsi

Director: Michael A. Goorjian

Logline: An Armenian-American relocates to Armenia after WWII and ends up in a Soviet prison for the crime of wearing a tie.

U.S.

Bhutan’s official Oscar entry “The Monk And The Gun,” Pawo Choyning Dorji’s follow-up to “Lunana: A Yak in The Classroom,” has been bought by a raft of well-established international theatrical distributors.

Following its festival premieres at Telluride, Toronto, Rome and Busan, “The Monk and the Gun” has been sold by Films Boutique to Pyramide Distribution (France), September Films (Benelux), Rialto Distribution (Australia), Future Films (Scandinavia), A Contracorriente (Spain), Lev Films (Israel), Aurora Films (Poland), Trigon (Switzerland), Alambique Films (Portugal) and Impact Films (India and Indian Subcontinent).

Earlier this week, the crowdpleaser was also acquired by Roadside Attraction for the U.S. in a deal negotiated with UTA, which is repping the film in North America. Films Boutique is currently negotiating deals in other territories.

Choyning Dorji’s feature debut, “Lunana, a Yak in the Classroom,” was the second film ever submitted by Bhutan for the Oscar race and...

Exclusive: Roadside Attractions has acquired U.S. rights to Bhutan’s official selection for Best International Feature at the 96th Academy Awards, The Monk and the Gun, a spiritual fable written, directed, and co-produced by the Oscar-nominated director of 2019’s Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom, Pawo Choyning Dorj. Contending for Best International Film, Lunana became the first Bhutanese film ever nominated for an Oscar. The Monk and the Gun premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and later the Toronto International Film Festival where it won critical and audience acclaim, currently holding a 100% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

In my Deadline review of the film after its Telluride premiere I said, “If I were a betting man — which I am — I would venture to say that with his second film The Monk and the Gun, which just had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival this weekend and goes on to Toronto next week,...

Samuel Goldwyn Films has signed a worldwide catalog deal with Concord Originals for rights to three Rodgers & Hammerstein films. The distribution pact involves two classic Hollywood films, 1958’s “South Pacific” and 1955’s “Oklahoma.” It also includes a filmed Royal National Theatre production of “Oklahoma!” that was staged in 1998 and starred a pre-Wolverine Hugh Jackman. The films will be released on VOD and other home entertainment platforms in the fourth quarter of 2023. Goldwyn will also release all three films in new DVD and Blu-Ray anniversary editions.

Samuel Goldwyn Films has been actively acquiring library content, nabbing rights to Christopher Nolan’s “Memento,” as well as “The Name of the Rose” starring Sean Connery and “Wild Target” starring Emily Blunt, Rupert Grint and Bill Nighy.

“We are delighted to partner with Samuel Goldwyn Films to continue championing the legacy of these iconic films from the Concord library and introduce a new generation...

What would a monk want with a gun? Bringing wisdom and a streak of wry humor to his Bhutan-set sophomore feature, “The Monk and the Gun,” director Pawo Choyning Dorji teases any number of possible answers to that question over the course of a droll, shrewdly satirical fable, in which Western values crash against a seemingly intransigent (but potentially more enlightened) South Asian culture.

A gifted storyteller who keeps audiences guessing about his characters’ motives until the surprising moment everything comes together, Dorji was born in Bhutan, but attended university in Wisconsin. That uncommon mix of influences gives him a unique perspective on both his home country and the way the sparsely populated, slow-to-modernize kingdom is perceived by the outside world (Bhutan was basically the last corner of the world to get internet access). The director’s natural human-interest sensibility earned devoted fans — and an unexpected Oscar nomination — for his appealing 2019 debut,...

The Oscars Best International Feature Film race landed two major frontrunners on the same day on Thursday, with the United Kingdom submitting Jonathan Glazer’s chilling World War II drama “The Zone of Interest” and France following with Tran Anh Hung’s rapturous “The Taste of Things” in the one-film-per-country competition.

“The Zone of Interest,” set among German families who live on the outskirts of Auschwitz, won the Grand Prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and won raves as one of the most original and unnerving films to deal with the Holocaust since “Son of Saul,” which won the Oscar in this category eight years ago. It was considered the obvious choice for the U.K. to submit.

France, on the other hand, had an extremely difficult choice between Palme d’Or winner “Anatomy of a Fall,” starring Sandra Huller as a woman on trial for murdering her husband,...

"Embrace the simplicity of Bhutan and discover the richness within." Another film about the mystical ways of Bhutan – this is the one of the best hidden gems of the 2023 fall film festival season. The Monk and the Gun is the second feature film written and directed by the extraordinarily talented Bhutanese filmmaker Pawo Choyning Dorji. His first film, called Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom, was nominated for an Oscar in 2022 but it didn't win. It's a good film, but not one of my favorites. His new film, however, is an instant favorite. I loved this, really, really loved this film. It's a fascinating philosophical look at life in Bhutan, told with confidence and filmed absolutely perfectly. And at the same time it's also brilliant satirical commentary on America's stubborn ways, as opposed to the more sensible Bhutan society based in Buddhism. Of course there's something about Himalayan culture that...

by Cláudio Alves

During my days at the festival, I've found TIFF can be a place of great discovery, full of small titles coexisting with big ones, often besting them from a disadvantageous position. Discovery can also exist in the dialogues established between programmed projects, threads of shared ideas and ideals linking works of distinct artists from all over the globe.

Because of its status as Bhutan's Oscar submission and Pawo Choyning Dorji's follow-up to his nominated Lunana, I would always see The Monk and the Gun. However, the conversations it shares with other, less high profile films, were a welcome surprise. Despite their disparate genres themes of encroaching modernity within traditional communities of mountainous Asian nations echoed back from the Nepalese A Road to a Village and the Mongolian City of Wind...

One of the most surprising Oscar nominations of recent years came in 2019 when Bhutan’s “Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom” landed the country’s first nom in the Best International Feature Film category. That film’s first-time director, Pawo Choyning Dorji, has now unveiled his second movie, “The Monk and the Gun,” which played at both the Telluride and Toronto Film Festivals, and in the process suggested that Pawo is not a flash-in-the-pan — instead, he’s a genuine talent at making feel-good movies that are charming without being cloying.

“The Monk and the Gun,” though, is a more mature and more intriguing work than its predecessor. “Lunana,” for all the abundant charm that made it an Oscar surprise, put a gender-swapped, romance-deprived and geographically distant spin on the plots of about half the Hallmark movies in existence: city dweller who’s been living the fast life must go to a small town,...

Screen is profiling every submission for best international feature at the 96th Academy Awards.

Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.

Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...

Screen is profiling every submission for best international feature at the 96th Academy Awards.

Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.

Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...

Screen is profiling every submission for best international feature at the 96th Academy Awards.

Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.

Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...

When Taiwan-based filmmaker Pawo Choyning Dorji’s first film “Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom” was accepted by the London Film Festival, he made connections around the world, from French and Swiss investors to Hollywood, as he tirelessly promoted the film, which wound up the first Bhutanese film submitted for the Oscar. It marked the first Oscar nomination for the tiny, long-isolated Buddhist country of Bhutan, which became the world’s last country to open itself to television and the Internet in 1999. With so few films produced in the small mountain country, his second film “The Monk and the Gun,” made with more actors and a bigger budget, was also submitted this year.

The movie, which debuted at Telluride, is a culture-clash story about a lama who wants his monk to find him a gun in time for the full moon, which is in four days. At the same time,...

Bhutan has submitted Pawo Choyning Dorji’s The Monk And The Gun for the best international feature category at the 2024 Academy Awards.

The announcement follows the film’s buzzy world premiere at Telluride and comes on the eve of its Canadian premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

The decision was made by the Committee for Selection of Films for International Awards, formed by the Bhutan InfoComm and Media Authority (Bicma).

This is the second time film by writer and director Dorji to have represented Bhutan, and after his first film, Lunana: A Yak In The Classroom, was submitted by the Himalayan territory for the 2020 awards, and went on to be nominated.

Lunana was Bhutan’s second Oscar entry after the The Cup by Khyentse Norbui in 1999.

“The Monk And The Gun stood out as the unanimous choice of the Selection Committee. The film has garnered acclaim for its innovative storytelling,...

Anyone who wants to travel the world — vicariously, of course — will get a kick out of The Monk and the Gun, a film from Bhutan that had its world premiere at this year’s Telluride Film Festival. Director Pawo Choyning Dorji earned an Oscar nomination for best international film of 2021 for his Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom, an enjoyable comedy-drama about the advent of modern technology in the remotest sections of Bhutan.

The director’s new movie also focuses on important transitions in Bhutan during the mid-2000s, when the king decided to abdicate and introduce elections for the very first time in the country’s history. Part of the film dramatizes the process of introducing mock elections to teach the people how to vote, which proves to be something of a challenge, since many local residents remain loyal to the king and reluctant to embrace such a dramatic change.

With no film industry to speak of, and limited funds to make a movie in one of the most remote places on earth, young Bhutanese director-writer Pawo Choyning Dorji pulled off a miracle with his first feature, Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom, which came out of nowhere to get an Oscar nomination for Best International Feature (formerly Best Foreign Language Film) in 2019. It was a charmer of a movie set in a village in Bhutan with no connection to the outside world and where a young teacher must decide whether he wants to stay and teach the kids or follow his dreams to Australia.

If I were a betting man — which I am — I would venture to say that with his second film The Monk and the Gun, which just had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival this weekend and goes on to Toronto next week, will...

"We live in strange times." Cinetic has debuted a festival promo trailer for the indie film The Monk and the Gun, the second feature made by the very talented Bhutanese filmmaker Pawo Choyning Dorji. His first film, Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom, was nominated for Best International Film at the 2022 Academy Awards - getting him tons of extra attention. He's back with his next new feature, another drama set in the stunning mountains of Bhutan (it's near Nepal & Tibet). The Monk and the Gun premiered at the Telluride Film Festival this weekend, and stops at TIFF next this fall - seeking a distributor. The intro from TIFF: "Set in 2006, when the Kingdom of Bhutan began its transition to democracy, this playful ensemble drama is a poignant parable about the impossibility of embracing modernity without reckoning with the past." The story follows an American who travels into Bhutan in search...

The Telluride Film Festival, a key part of the fall festival circuit launching awards season and perhaps some major Academy Award contenders, announced the wide-ranging lineup of films for its landmark 50th edition. The fest kicks off Thursday and runs through Labor Day and will feature world premieres of Oscar winners Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers (Focus Features), Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn (Amazon) and Free Solo filmmakers Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s narrative feature Nyad (Netflix).

50th Anniversary Telluride Film Festival poster designed by Luke Dorman/Meow Wolfe

Other world premieres in the lineup include Andrew Haigh’s All of Us Strangers (Searchlight) with Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott; George C. Wolfe’s Rustin (Netflix), starring Colman Domingo in the title role; Ethan Hawke’s Wildcat starring daughter Maya Hawke; Bhutan filmmaker Pawo Choyning Dorji’s follow-up to his Oscar-nominated international breakthrough Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom,...

The second year of the new-look committee.

Director Olivier Assayas, producer Patrick Wachsberger and composer Alexandre Desplat are among the seven-strong committee appointed by France’s Centre National du Cinema (Cnc) to select the country’s international feature Oscar entry.

Joining the trio on the committee are director Mounia Meddour; producer Charles Gillibert of CG Cinema; Sabine Chemaly, EVP of international distribution at TF1 Studio; and Tanja Meissner, former head of sales at Memento.

The committee is appointed by Rima Abdul Malak, French minister of culture, on the proposal of Cnc president Dominic Boutonnat.

The seven professionals will meet twice...

Bhutanese director Pawo Choyning Dorji’s ‘The Monk And The Gun’ plays in Toronto’s Centrepiece programme next month.

Berlin-based Films Boutique has boarded international sales for Bhutanese director Pawo Choyning Dorji’s The Monk And The Gun, which has its international premiere at Toronto next month in the festival’s Centrepiece programme

Dorji previously directed Lunana: A Yak In The Classroom, which was nominated for best international feature at last year’s Academy Awards. Lunana premiered at the BFI London Film Festival in 2019, played widely on the festival circuit and secured multiple distribution deals including with Samuel Goldwyn for North America.

Getting In Front Of The Competition

The International Olympic Committee said on Thursday that Swiss-based, Chinese-owned Infront Sports & Media would handle broadcast right sales in much of Asia for the next series of Summer and Winter games.

The deal covers 22 territories including Afghanistan, Brunei, Cambodia, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam – but not China, Japan or South Korea, and runs 2026-2032. That means it will cover the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and the Los Angeles 2028 and Brisbane 2032 Summer games. The 2030 Winter Olympics, which have yet to be allocated a host, and all Youth Olympic Games during this period will also be covered.

Infront, which is headed by Philippe Blatter and has been owned by China’s Dalian Wanda since 2015, replaces the Japanese advertising and marketing giant Dentsu, which had handled the rights...

New Delhi, June 7 (Ians) Bhutan Echoes, the literary festival in Bhutan has announced the return of Drukyul’s Literature Festival (Dlf) for its 12th edition with the theme ‘Reconnecting and Reviving’.

From August 4 to 6, festival-goers can expect a lineup of over 35 in-person sessions and programmes celebrating the rich tapestry of literature, art, and culture.

The Royal University of Bhutan auditorium will be the festival venue and several pop-up art exhibitions, music performances, interactive workshops, spoken-word open mic nights, poetry readings, and film screenings will be organised.

This year’s festival aims not only to provide an escape into the realm of stories but also to explore the pressing issues we all confront in this new reality. From redefining travel and rebuilding human connections post-pandemic to addressing environmental concerns, the economy, and holistic well-being, Dlf 2023 offers something for everyone.

The author line-up includes Vikas Swarup, Pawo Choyning Dorji, French artist Benjamin Flouw...

Cannes is the birthplace for any number of future Best International Feature Film Oscar nominees, like last year’s Grand Prize winner “Close,” or winners like 2021 Competition entry “Drive My Car.” This year’s possibilities include the UK’s rapturously received German-language from UK filmmaker Jonathan Glazer, “The Zone of Interest;” Argentina’s Un Certain Regard entry “The Delinquents,” a three-hour existential heist movie picked up by Mubi; or Japan’s “Monster,” the latest film from Hirokazu Kore-eda, whose “Shoplifters” scored both the Palme d’Or and an Oscar nomination. However, before they can be nominated they must be submitted — and that, as Academy members well know, is the rub.

The demand for reform boils down to this: Too often the decision of Oscar submissions belongs to decision-makers instead of filmmakers, and that can lead to some… frustrating choices. Last year India did not submit “Rrr” and Italy declined to...

To mark the release of Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom available on DVD, Blu-ray & On Demand – May 15, we have 3 Blu-Rays to give away!

When Ugyen, a day-dreaming but discontented young teacher, is posted to a school in the remote village of Lunana, dizzyingly high up in the Himalyan glaciers, he is disheartened to find a simple yak herding community lacking basic amenities such as electricity or even a blackboard. But the enthusiasm of his young students and the unassuming warmth of the village folk buoy Ugyen’s spirits and he must decide whether to return to the city before the gruelling winter sets in or remain in this strange and captivating land. Starring: Sherab Dorji, Pem Zam, Keldon Lhamo Gurung

Beautifully photographed in extraordinary mountain locations, this poetic and enchanting drama earned Bhutan the country’s first ever Oscar nomination and gives a fascinating insight into a region largely uncharted on screen.

Last fall, five days before Italy announced its official Oscar submission, filmmakers Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch were nervous. The Belgian couple, who co-directed the intimate Cannes winner “The Eight Mountains” in the Italian Alps and learned the language for the project, hoped that their commitment was enough to convince the committee tasked with selecting the submission that it fulfilled their requirements.

“We want to make the Italians proud of this film, so we pray that they will feel proud enough to send it,” Vandermeersch told IndieWire at the time. “If our nationality diminishes that pride or that sense of ownership, we can’t help that, but we do think that it’s less and less important in the world of today.”

The following week, the country snubbed “The Eight Mountains” in favor of another Cannes selection, Italian director Mario Matone’s crime drama “Nostalgia;” one month later, it...