Fimmaker's Dilemma

The DVDs and CDs are marked Nu 50 but can come down to Nu 20, if one can bargain.“The quality is good. It saves time and the expense of going to a movie theatre where you’ve to pay Nu 150,” says a monk, who picks up a copy of the film, Sawadeekhrap. The vendors selling the stuff say they buy it from Siliguri, India, while some say it comes...

Influence: Bhutanese Films

Picture this scene: The hero fights off 10 or so bad guys and gets hit by several bullets. What wouldn’t the good guy do for his ladylove? But that’s nothing. After whipping the villains into a pulp and, in the process, catching a few stray bullets mid-air with his bare hands, the hero walks away unscathed. The lovebirds, dressed in their...

Animation – serious, not just funny

Some of the most memorable and highest box-office grossers in the history of visual entertainment have been animated productions. Between the inaugural black and white Humorous Phases of Funny Faces by newspaper cartoonist J. Stuart Blackton in 1906 and the hi-tech, high-explosive world of Transformers today, animated films have grown...

The Comedians of Bhutanese Cinema

Knowing Phurpa Thinley betterIf humor could be found in an inexhaustible package, it should be him. He is funny and witty. The moment he opens his mouth, everybody breaks into a laughter. Born in Talo in Punakha, Phurpa Thinley, 42, is the most popular comedian in the country. He has been in the film industry for almost two decades. He...

The Cup (Phörpa)

The World Cup and Tibetan Monks are not the two topics most likely to pack Americans into cinemas. A combination of the two may actually frighten away some viewers. But first-time director Khyentse Norbu's film about these two topics, The Cup, deserves an audience, perhaps particularly an U.S. audience, in part because it imagines and indeed,...

The making of Sem Gawai Tasha

The director shouts, “Lights, camera, action,” and the actors start smiling and dancing. On screen, it might look like a normal scene but it’s actually a cold winter’s night with sub zero temperatures and the actors are dressed in gho and kira even as, around them, spectators shiver in woolen jackets and boots. This is just one of the...

Travellers & Magicians

Travellers and Magicians is a 2003 Bhutanese Dzongkha language film written and directed by Khyentse Norbu, a reincarnate lama of Tibetan Buddhism, who is also known as Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche. The movie is the first feature film shot entirely in the kingdom of Bhutan. The majority of the casts are not professional actors; Dendup,...

A kingdom emerges from isolation, along with its filmmakers

How does a royal bodyguard become a scriptwriter? Ask Tshering Penjore.Until last year Penjore, 34, was aide de camp to Bhutan's crown prince, Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck, who has since become the country's fifth king. But when in April 2006 a friend suggested that the film-loving Penjore write a script, he couldn't resist. There was only...

The FARAWAY GIRL: When love happens...

Love knows no boundary. This is the theme of the next Bhutanese flick, The Far Away Girl, which will be screened at the Mig Cinema hall in Phuentsholing from January 20. Directed by Sonam Yeshey, the film is about two people from two different countries, different cultural background, and different ways of living falling in love. Rigsel is...

His Majesty awards Gold Medal to MPAB

Convenience for clients, safety of vital communication, efficient service is taking the services near its rivals In order to recognise the contribution of Bhutan’s nebulous and unsupported film industry, His Majesty the King awarded the Motion Picture Association of Bhutan (MPAB) with a gold medal on the occasion of the National Day on December...

The year in Bhutanese cinema

From releasing Sungchop Magmi, which took six years in the making, to Return of Ata Khawjay to receiving a gold medal from His Majesty, 2009 was an exciting year for the burgeoning Bhutanese movie industry. In total, 18 films were produced, out of which only five made it to the theatres in Thimphu. Karma Entertainment’s Sem da Sem and Dechen...

'The Young Victoria' wins Academy Award

Sandy Powell was summoned to the podium twice Thursday night at the 12th annual Costume Designers Guild Awards at the Beverly Hilton.Powell was awarded the prize for excellence in period film for her work in Apparition's "The Young Victoria," in which she dressed Emily Blunt as the young queen just assuming her throne.Sandy Powell picked...

Jurmey: Casts

LODAY CHOPHEL (Jurmey)21st Century Ox EntertainmentP.O Box 849Thimphu, BhutanSONAM TENZIN (Jamyang)Sharchokpa TshongkhangP.O Box 738Thimphu, BhutanSONAM YANGKI (Deki)Yangki AutomobilesP.O Box 384Thimphu, BhutanTHINLEY CHOEDEN (Yangchen)XI ScienceYangchenphug High SchoolThimphu, BhutanGOMCHEN PENJOR (Grandpa)--------------------------------------------------------------Thimphu,...

City of Dreamz: A film by Chungdra Gyeltshen

‘The grass is always greener on the other side’ is the theme of the latest film showing at the Trowa Theatre in Thimphu. Kezang Tobgay, a new comer, plays the male protagonist as Tobgay and Choki Wangmo plays the female lead as Yeshey, a village girl. Tandin Penjore plays Penjor, a cousin of Tobgay from Thimphu. C ity of Dreamz is about a...

Movie Synopsis

Jurmey is a restless teenager staying with his brother, Namgay, in Thimphu.Being in the same class, same desk, for three years in a row, he is quite a bully at school. Once, the principal of the school finds him standing outside the classroom due to his misbehavior at class. As a result and way to correct him, the principal places him in the care of Jamyang, an exemplary student excellent in both...

Two boys, two journeys, two destinations, One Murder

Following a murder, two boys take two journeys of self-realization. One, a restless and a bully at school, is forced to quit school and find his roots in a village. The other, a bright and promising student, runs away from the crime scene and wakes up in a monastery. Will they find what they are looking for? Will their paths cro...