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...