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.
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.
- 5/17/2023
- by Competitions
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
A trainee teacher’s dreams of becoming a singer are interrupted when he is posted to the world’s remotest school in Pawo Choyning Dorji’s gentle drama
This gentle, sweet-natured movie is the debut feature from Bhutan-born and US-educated film-maker Pawo Choyning Dorji: last year it became the first Bhutanese film to get an Oscar nomination for best international feature (losing out to Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car). Despite these unusual credentials, Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom runs on pretty familiar, even traditional lines, although its likability and humour – and almost childlike faith in the power of singing to overcome melancholy and adversity – means you’ll find yourself smiling along.
Ugyen (Sherab Dorji) is a young man in the Bhutanese capital, Thimphu; since his parents’ death, he lives with his formidable grandmother who is exasperated at his aimlessness and shiftlessness. He is four years into a five-year teacher training course,...
This gentle, sweet-natured movie is the debut feature from Bhutan-born and US-educated film-maker Pawo Choyning Dorji: last year it became the first Bhutanese film to get an Oscar nomination for best international feature (losing out to Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car). Despite these unusual credentials, Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom runs on pretty familiar, even traditional lines, although its likability and humour – and almost childlike faith in the power of singing to overcome melancholy and adversity – means you’ll find yourself smiling along.
Ugyen (Sherab Dorji) is a young man in the Bhutanese capital, Thimphu; since his parents’ death, he lives with his formidable grandmother who is exasperated at his aimlessness and shiftlessness. He is four years into a five-year teacher training course,...
- 3/9/2023
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Pawo Choyning Dorji gives his familiar fish-out-of-water themes a gentle workout in the unusual setting of rural Bhutan. The mountain settlement of Lunana is certainly the last place that Ugyen Dorji (Sherab Dorji) wants to be, in fact the young teacher is rather too cool for school in general, dreaming instead of emigrating to Australia. The remote posting to Lunana is obviously intended as a punishment from the education ministry and a reminder that Ugyen is supposed to be a part of the Gross Happiness Initiative - a genuine policy you can read more about here.
While definitely no party political broadcast, the writer/director certainly is out to softly illustrate the charms of this holistic philosophy as Ugyen is met by villagers Michen (Ugyen Norbu Lhendup) and Singye (Tshering Dorji) for the eight-day trek that will take him away from what he considers to be civilisation from spring until winter.
While definitely no party political broadcast, the writer/director certainly is out to softly illustrate the charms of this holistic philosophy as Ugyen is met by villagers Michen (Ugyen Norbu Lhendup) and Singye (Tshering Dorji) for the eight-day trek that will take him away from what he considers to be civilisation from spring until winter.
- 3/8/2023
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Films from Bhutan are rare on this side of the Globe and we are always happy when one comes our way, even more so when it’s as charming as “Lunana: a Yak in the Classroom”, Pawo Choyning Dorji’s highland-based drama that is having its World Premiere at the London Film Festival. The director – who also wrote it and produced it – had jumped to the international film business attention not long ago for producing “Hema Hema: Sing Me A Song While I Wait”, one of the movie that contributed to place Bhutan on the filmmaking and festival map.
“Jiseok” is screening at Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema
Thimphu is Bhutan’s capital city and like in many other places connectivity and access that technology and social media bring with them has crept into the dreams and desires of young people. Ugyen (Sherab Dorji) for example, cannot wait...
“Jiseok” is screening at Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema
Thimphu is Bhutan’s capital city and like in many other places connectivity and access that technology and social media bring with them has crept into the dreams and desires of young people. Ugyen (Sherab Dorji) for example, cannot wait...
- 3/7/2023
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
In a time when bigger is assumed to be better, especially in terms of budget and star power, “Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom” scored a surprising Oscar nomination for Best International Feature, the first ever for Bhutan, a country in the Himalayas with a population of less than 800,000.
In the Covid era, however, the film’s core messaging of a simple life, where people help people and educators are worthy of honor and praise, resonates more strongly than ever. So many of us discovered the importance of these values during the pandemic, and Ugyen (Sherab Dorji), the film’s protagonist, realizes it through a crisis of his own.
When we first meet Ugyen, he is an unsatisfied teacher working in Thimphu, the nation’s capital, with dreams of escaping to Australia and becoming a singer, despite his grandmother’s insistence that being a teacher and a civil servant is...
In the Covid era, however, the film’s core messaging of a simple life, where people help people and educators are worthy of honor and praise, resonates more strongly than ever. So many of us discovered the importance of these values during the pandemic, and Ugyen (Sherab Dorji), the film’s protagonist, realizes it through a crisis of his own.
When we first meet Ugyen, he is an unsatisfied teacher working in Thimphu, the nation’s capital, with dreams of escaping to Australia and becoming a singer, despite his grandmother’s insistence that being a teacher and a civil servant is...
- 3/21/2022
- by Ronda Racha Penrice
- The Wrap
An Oscar nominee for Best International Feature, Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom marks a first for the country of Bhutan, which has only ever submitted two films for consideration (and actually entered Lunana two years in a row following its earlier disqualification on a technicality). Filmmaker Pawo Choyning Dorji and star Sherab Dorji joined us for Contenders Film: The Nominees to discuss the making of the movie, a charming story of a teacher who is reluctantly transferred to a remote village and ends up learning quite a bit throughout his journey.
On nominations day, the director told me he felt like it had been a dream, and “it still feels very surreal,” he said, noting that when Lunana was accepted for consideration, “I think we were ranked as one of the least likely films to make the shortlist. We made the shortlist somehow and after we made the shortlist...
On nominations day, the director told me he felt like it had been a dream, and “it still feels very surreal,” he said, noting that when Lunana was accepted for consideration, “I think we were ranked as one of the least likely films to make the shortlist. We made the shortlist somehow and after we made the shortlist...
- 3/5/2022
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
Antlers (Scott Cooper)
Scott Cooper is comfortable in the mud. The American director routinely finds himself in the confines of the lowdown and dirty, in gritty landscapes with working-class characters overcoming their shortcomings and often turning to violence to solve their problems. While his previous two features Black Mass and Hostiles failed to find tension in their deliberately tedious pacing, Antlers strikes the balance between methodology, terror, and blue-collar dynamics. – Erik N. (full review)
Where to Stream: HBO Max
Blackhat (Michael Mann)
Michael Mann is one of the few directors still making thoughtfully composed and visceral action films for an audience that refuses to turn its brain off. That Mann also chooses to tackle concerns of the modern world while still maintaining...
Antlers (Scott Cooper)
Scott Cooper is comfortable in the mud. The American director routinely finds himself in the confines of the lowdown and dirty, in gritty landscapes with working-class characters overcoming their shortcomings and often turning to violence to solve their problems. While his previous two features Black Mass and Hostiles failed to find tension in their deliberately tedious pacing, Antlers strikes the balance between methodology, terror, and blue-collar dynamics. – Erik N. (full review)
Where to Stream: HBO Max
Blackhat (Michael Mann)
Michael Mann is one of the few directors still making thoughtfully composed and visceral action films for an audience that refuses to turn its brain off. That Mann also chooses to tackle concerns of the modern world while still maintaining...
- 2/18/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Every year, an international feature without the backing of a top distributor or massive marketing lands an Oscar nomination. Last year it was Tunisian entry “The Man Who Sold His Skin”; Samuel Goldwyn Films acquired it after it made the Oscar shortlist; this time, Samuel Goldwyn’s bought “Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom” before the nominations. It marks the first Oscar nomination for the tiny, long-isolated Buddhist country of Bhutan, which became the world’s last country to open to television and the internet in 1999.
The film traveled the festival circuit after its 2019 premiere at the London Film Festival, winning awards and slowly building a profile. Bhutan was so proud of Pawo Choyning Dorji’s feature debut that the country submitted the movie twice. The Academy initially disqualified it because the country had neither an official selection committee nor an Oscar track record: Bhutan hadn’t submitted a film for 23 years.
The film traveled the festival circuit after its 2019 premiere at the London Film Festival, winning awards and slowly building a profile. Bhutan was so proud of Pawo Choyning Dorji’s feature debut that the country submitted the movie twice. The Academy initially disqualified it because the country had neither an official selection committee nor an Oscar track record: Bhutan hadn’t submitted a film for 23 years.
- 2/16/2022
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Every year, an international feature without the backing of a top distributor or massive marketing lands an Oscar nomination. Last year it was Tunisian entry “The Man Who Sold His Skin”; Samuel Goldwyn Films acquired it after it made the Oscar shortlist; this time, Samuel Goldwyn’s bought “Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom” before the nominations. It marks the first Oscar nomination for the tiny, long-isolated Buddhist country of Bhutan, which became the world’s last country to open to television and the internet in 1999.
The film traveled the festival circuit after its 2019 premiere at the London Film Festival, winning awards and slowly building a profile. Bhutan was so proud of Pawo Choyning Dorji’s feature debut that the country submitted the movie twice. The Academy initially disqualified it because the country had neither an official selection committee nor an Oscar track record: Bhutan hadn’t submitted a film for 23 years.
The film traveled the festival circuit after its 2019 premiere at the London Film Festival, winning awards and slowly building a profile. Bhutan was so proud of Pawo Choyning Dorji’s feature debut that the country submitted the movie twice. The Academy initially disqualified it because the country had neither an official selection committee nor an Oscar track record: Bhutan hadn’t submitted a film for 23 years.
- 2/16/2022
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Raised by his grandmother after his parents’ deaths, Ugyen (Sherab Dorji) is considered lucky by his friends. He became a teacher and is just one year away from finishing his mandatory government contract, yet the thing he’s discovered most during that time is the unfortunate truth that his heart isn’t in it. So while he’ll complete his tenure, his dream of immigrating to Australia to pursue a singing career is all that’s on his mind. And everyone knows it—including his boss. As punishment for his constant tardiness and obvious disinterest, she declares that his final posting will be at the so-called “most remote school in the world.” At almost twice the elevation of Bhutanese capital city Thimphu and an eight-day hike from the nearest town, Lunana awaits.
Pawo Choyning Dorji’s feature debut Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom captures the juxtaposition of big-city living...
Pawo Choyning Dorji’s feature debut Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom captures the juxtaposition of big-city living...
- 2/15/2022
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
The Academy’s International Feature Film Award Committee has nothing to do with selecting the foreign-language submissions from more than 90 countries around the world. It’s up to the individual country to figure out which film has the best chance to build a following among some 1,000 global Academy participants (mostly in Los Angeles) who watch a dozen films at festivals, screenings, theaters, or on the Academy online portal, and rate them to come up with a shortlist of 15 films for the overall Academy to watch. Those who see the entire shortlist can pick the final five nominees.
While many in Hollywood decry this method of selecting the international Oscar contenders, the scale and logistics of the submitting and voting process have staved off any meaningful reform. More countries are participating every year: this year 92 submissions were eligible. Some members would like to see 10 nominees, given the high volume of quality films on display.
While many in Hollywood decry this method of selecting the international Oscar contenders, the scale and logistics of the submitting and voting process have staved off any meaningful reform. More countries are participating every year: this year 92 submissions were eligible. Some members would like to see 10 nominees, given the high volume of quality films on display.
- 2/10/2022
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
The Academy’s International Feature Film Award Committee has nothing to do with selecting the foreign-language submissions from more than 90 countries around the world. It’s up to the individual country to figure out which film has the best chance to build a following among some 1,000 global Academy participants (mostly in Los Angeles) who watch a dozen films at festivals, screenings, theaters, or on the Academy online portal, and rate them to come up with a shortlist of 15 films for the overall Academy to watch. Those who see the entire shortlist can pick the final five nominees.
While many in Hollywood decry this method of selecting the international Oscar contenders, the scale and logistics of the submitting and voting process have staved off any meaningful reform. More countries are participating every year: this year 92 submissions were eligible. Some members would like to see 10 nominees, given the high volume of quality films on display.
While many in Hollywood decry this method of selecting the international Oscar contenders, the scale and logistics of the submitting and voting process have staved off any meaningful reform. More countries are participating every year: this year 92 submissions were eligible. Some members would like to see 10 nominees, given the high volume of quality films on display.
- 2/10/2022
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
by Nathaniel R
Making movies is never "easy" but some movies achieve the impossible. Pawo Chonyning Dorji's debut feature, the Bhutanese Oscar finalist Lunana A Yak in the Classroom, is one of the latter kind. Its very existence is a miracle, and that's before you even get to the lottery-ticket like good fortune of competing for the Oscar. While Bhutan has a growing local film and television industry, heavily influenced by the films of Bollywood, the pictures are mostly low budget and don't travel outside of the small landlocked country. They definitely don't travel anywhere near the mountainous village where Lunana A Yak in the Classroom takes place, since there is no electricity let alone a movie theater. The charming soulful movie is about a restless young teacher named Ugyen (first time actor Sherab Dorji) who dreams of moving to Australia to pursue a music career. He very reluctantly accepts...
Making movies is never "easy" but some movies achieve the impossible. Pawo Chonyning Dorji's debut feature, the Bhutanese Oscar finalist Lunana A Yak in the Classroom, is one of the latter kind. Its very existence is a miracle, and that's before you even get to the lottery-ticket like good fortune of competing for the Oscar. While Bhutan has a growing local film and television industry, heavily influenced by the films of Bollywood, the pictures are mostly low budget and don't travel outside of the small landlocked country. They definitely don't travel anywhere near the mountainous village where Lunana A Yak in the Classroom takes place, since there is no electricity let alone a movie theater. The charming soulful movie is about a restless young teacher named Ugyen (first time actor Sherab Dorji) who dreams of moving to Australia to pursue a music career. He very reluctantly accepts...
- 1/26/2022
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Bhutan’s first Oscar entry in 23 years, Pawo Choyning Dorji’s feature debut “Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom” had an unusual journey before landing on the shortlist for Oscar international film.
The lushly lensed feature, with a plot revolving around the spiritual coming of age of a young man on a quest to find happiness far from home, was made on solar batteries and shot for three months in one of world’s most isolated human settlements with first-time actors and an amateur crew.
“It’s a very surreal journey, and for me it really validates the power of art and filmmaking, that if you put your heart into it, and share a story with the world, it can go from the remotest school in the world, all the way to the most prestigious stages of the world,” says Dorji. He is an author and photographer from Bhutan whose...
The lushly lensed feature, with a plot revolving around the spiritual coming of age of a young man on a quest to find happiness far from home, was made on solar batteries and shot for three months in one of world’s most isolated human settlements with first-time actors and an amateur crew.
“It’s a very surreal journey, and for me it really validates the power of art and filmmaking, that if you put your heart into it, and share a story with the world, it can go from the remotest school in the world, all the way to the most prestigious stages of the world,” says Dorji. He is an author and photographer from Bhutan whose...
- 1/22/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
A specialty market dotted by holdovers as Oscar nods approach and gripped by Sundance fever debuts a compelling handful of new openers from Korean director Hong Sang-soo’s Introduction to Bhutan’s first ever entrant on the Academy Awards International feature shortlist, to a Ukrainian coming of age story and a Queen Latifa-starrring family film Tiger Rising based on the bestselling Kate Dicamillo book.
They come in a frame with two new wide releases: Faith-based romance Redeeming Love presented by Universal on 1,903 screens, and Sean McNamara’s family adventure The King’s Daughter at 2,170 locations, presented by Gravitas. (See below for more on both.)
The Avenue presents The Tiger Rising on 800+ screens, the weekend’s widest specialty release. Directed by Ray Giarratana from a screenplay he adapted based on the Dicamillo novel. With Christian Convery and Dennis Quaid. Lonely 12-year-old Rob Horton (Convery) discovers a caged tiger in the woods near his home,...
They come in a frame with two new wide releases: Faith-based romance Redeeming Love presented by Universal on 1,903 screens, and Sean McNamara’s family adventure The King’s Daughter at 2,170 locations, presented by Gravitas. (See below for more on both.)
The Avenue presents The Tiger Rising on 800+ screens, the weekend’s widest specialty release. Directed by Ray Giarratana from a screenplay he adapted based on the Dicamillo novel. With Christian Convery and Dennis Quaid. Lonely 12-year-old Rob Horton (Convery) discovers a caged tiger in the woods near his home,...
- 1/21/2022
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Ugyen (Sherab Dorji) is a government-contracted teacher who doesn’t want to teach in Pawo Choyning Dorji’s Oscar-shortlisted debut film Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom. It was submitted for consideration for last year’s Academy Award for International Feature, but was not accepted because the South Asian nation hadn’t submitted a film since its lone entry in 1999. Beating the odds, Dorji’s film made the International Feature shortlist — making Bhutan one of three countries to make the cut for the first time, along with Kosovo and Panama.
In the film, Ugyen dreams of traveling to Australia to become a singer, but he has another year on his contract before he can quit. He resides in large city in Bhutan, but when his supervisor notices he’s slacking at work, he’s transferred to a remote village called Lunana.
When Ugyen gets off the bus, he meets Michen...
In the film, Ugyen dreams of traveling to Australia to become a singer, but he has another year on his contract before he can quit. He resides in large city in Bhutan, but when his supervisor notices he’s slacking at work, he’s transferred to a remote village called Lunana.
When Ugyen gets off the bus, he meets Michen...
- 1/19/2022
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
These are the submissions for the international film Oscar by country. The deadline for entries was Nov. 1. A shortlist of 15 films will be announced Dec. 21 and the nominations will come out Feb 8. The 94th Academy Awards will take place on March 27 at the Dolby Theatre. The Academy has not yet released a final list of entries; Variety compiled this list from individual country’s announcements.
Albania
Two Lions Heading to Venice
Dir. Jonid Jorji
Key cast: Vasjan Lami, Alessandra Bonarotta
Logline: A pair of filmmakers heading to the Venice festival are sidetracked from their destination after meeting two adult film actors.
Prodco: Bajo Films
Algeria
Heliopolis
Dir. Djaafar Gacem
Key cast: Souhila Mallem, Mehdi Ramdani, Cesar Duminil
Logline: True story of an uprising in the Algerian town of Guelma that was violently put down by the colonial French rulers.
Prodco: Hewes Pictures
Argentina
The Intruder
Dir. Natalia Meta
Key cast: Guillermo Arengo,...
Albania
Two Lions Heading to Venice
Dir. Jonid Jorji
Key cast: Vasjan Lami, Alessandra Bonarotta
Logline: A pair of filmmakers heading to the Venice festival are sidetracked from their destination after meeting two adult film actors.
Prodco: Bajo Films
Algeria
Heliopolis
Dir. Djaafar Gacem
Key cast: Souhila Mallem, Mehdi Ramdani, Cesar Duminil
Logline: True story of an uprising in the Algerian town of Guelma that was violently put down by the colonial French rulers.
Prodco: Hewes Pictures
Argentina
The Intruder
Dir. Natalia Meta
Key cast: Guillermo Arengo,...
- 11/11/2021
- by Shalini Dore
- Variety Film + TV
Pawo Choyning Dorji is a photographer, filmmaker and the author from Bhutan. His photos have been published in international magazines and newspapers including Life, Esquire, Vice and The Wall Street Journal, and his books of photography include “Seeing Sacred: Lights & Shadows Along the Journey” and “Sacred Paths” and “Light of the Moon: The Life & Legacy of Xuanzang of Tang”. He has been working for the Khyentse Labrang since 2006 and is married to Taiwanese actress, Stephanie Lai.
His first brush with cinema was as an assistant director for Khyentse Norbu’s “Vara: A Blessing” and then he went on producing Norbu’s “Hema Hema: Sing Me a Song While I Wait”. “Lunana: a Yak in the Classroom” is his directorial debut and had its World Premiere in London.
Kelden Lhamo Gurung (as Saldon), Sherab Dorji (as Ugyen) and Ugyen Norbu Lhendup (as Michen) are the first-time actors starring in “Lunana: a Yak in the Classroom...
His first brush with cinema was as an assistant director for Khyentse Norbu’s “Vara: A Blessing” and then he went on producing Norbu’s “Hema Hema: Sing Me a Song While I Wait”. “Lunana: a Yak in the Classroom” is his directorial debut and had its World Premiere in London.
Kelden Lhamo Gurung (as Saldon), Sherab Dorji (as Ugyen) and Ugyen Norbu Lhendup (as Michen) are the first-time actors starring in “Lunana: a Yak in the Classroom...
- 10/18/2019
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
Films from Bhutan are rare on this side of the Globe and we are always happy when one comes our way, even more so when it’s as charming as “Lunana: a Yak in the Classroom”, Pawo Choyning Dorji’s highland-based drama that is having its World Premiere at the London Film Festival. The director – who also wrote it and produced it – had jumped to the international film business attention not long ago for producing “Hema Hema: Sing Me A Song While I Wait”, one of the movie that contributed to place Bhutan on the filmmaking and festival map.
“Lunana: a Yak in The Classroom” is screening at the BFI London Film Festival 2019
Thimphu is Bhutan’s capital city and like in many other places connectivity and access that technology and social media bring with them has crept into the dreams and desires of young people. Ugyen (Sherab Dorji) for example,...
“Lunana: a Yak in The Classroom” is screening at the BFI London Film Festival 2019
Thimphu is Bhutan’s capital city and like in many other places connectivity and access that technology and social media bring with them has crept into the dreams and desires of young people. Ugyen (Sherab Dorji) for example,...
- 10/6/2019
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.