The Fort Worth Press - A yak at the Oscars: first nomination for Bhutanese film

USD -
AED 3.673042
AFN 68.112673
ALL 94.198378
AMD 389.366092
ANG 1.801814
AOA 913.000367
ARS 1003.850089
AUD 1.538462
AWG 1.8025
AZN 1.70397
BAM 1.877057
BBD 2.018523
BDT 119.468305
BGN 1.877115
BHD 0.376794
BIF 2953.116752
BMD 1
BND 1.347473
BOB 6.908201
BRL 5.801041
BSD 0.99976
BTN 84.384759
BWP 13.658045
BYN 3.27175
BYR 19600
BZD 2.015164
CAD 1.39805
CDF 2871.000362
CHF 0.893615
CLF 0.035758
CLP 977.925332
CNY 7.243041
CNH 7.25914
COP 4389.749988
CRC 509.237487
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 105.825615
CZK 24.326204
DJF 178.031575
DKK 7.158304
DOP 60.252411
DZD 134.27504
EGP 49.650175
ERN 15
ETB 122.388982
EUR 0.95985
FJD 2.27595
FKP 0.789317
GBP 0.798085
GEL 2.740391
GGP 0.789317
GHS 15.795384
GIP 0.789317
GMD 71.000355
GNF 8617.496041
GTQ 7.717261
GYD 209.15591
HKD 7.78445
HNL 25.264168
HRK 7.133259
HTG 131.234704
HUF 395.000354
IDR 15943.55
ILS 3.70204
IMP 0.789317
INR 84.43625
IQD 1309.659773
IRR 42075.000352
ISK 139.680386
JEP 0.789317
JMD 159.268679
JOD 0.709104
JPY 154.770385
KES 129.468784
KGS 86.503799
KHR 4025.145161
KMF 472.503794
KPW 899.999621
KRW 1404.510383
KWD 0.30785
KYD 0.833149
KZT 499.179423
LAK 21959.786938
LBP 89526.368828
LKR 290.973655
LRD 180.450118
LSL 18.040693
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.882192
MAD 10.057392
MDL 18.23504
MGA 4666.25078
MKD 59.052738
MMK 3247.960992
MNT 3397.999946
MOP 8.015644
MRU 39.77926
MUR 46.850378
MVR 15.460378
MWK 1733.576467
MXN 20.428504
MYR 4.468039
MZN 63.910377
NAD 18.040693
NGN 1696.703725
NIO 36.786794
NOK 11.072604
NPR 135.016076
NZD 1.714237
OMR 0.385039
PAB 0.99976
PEN 3.790969
PGK 4.025145
PHP 58.939038
PKR 277.626662
PLN 4.16352
PYG 7804.59715
QAR 3.646048
RON 4.778204
RSD 112.339038
RUB 104.308748
RWF 1364.748788
SAR 3.754429
SBD 8.383555
SCR 13.693555
SDG 601.503676
SEK 11.036204
SGD 1.346604
SHP 0.789317
SLE 22.730371
SLL 20969.504736
SOS 571.332598
SRD 35.494038
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.748021
SYP 2512.529858
SZL 18.034455
THB 34.480369
TJS 10.647152
TMT 3.5
TND 3.17616
TOP 2.342104
TRY 34.552504
TTD 6.790153
TWD 32.583504
TZS 2659.340659
UAH 41.35995
UGX 3694.035222
UYU 42.516436
UZS 12825.951341
VES 46.55914
VND 25419
VUV 118.722009
WST 2.791591
XAF 629.547483
XAG 0.031938
XAU 0.000369
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.760497
XOF 629.547483
XPF 114.458467
YER 249.925037
ZAR 18.15566
ZMK 9001.203587
ZMW 27.617448
ZWL 321.999592
  • RIO

    -0.2200

    62.35

    -0.35%

  • NGG

    1.0296

    63.11

    +1.63%

  • SCS

    0.2300

    13.27

    +1.73%

  • GSK

    0.2600

    33.96

    +0.77%

  • BCC

    3.4200

    143.78

    +2.38%

  • BTI

    0.4000

    37.38

    +1.07%

  • RBGPF

    59.2400

    59.24

    +100%

  • BCE

    0.0900

    26.77

    +0.34%

  • JRI

    -0.0200

    13.21

    -0.15%

  • CMSD

    0.0150

    24.46

    +0.06%

  • CMSC

    0.0320

    24.672

    +0.13%

  • RELX

    0.9900

    46.75

    +2.12%

  • VOD

    0.1323

    8.73

    +1.52%

  • AZN

    1.3700

    65.63

    +2.09%

  • BP

    0.2000

    29.72

    +0.67%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0100

    6.79

    -0.15%

A yak at the Oscars: first nomination for Bhutanese film
A yak at the Oscars: first nomination for Bhutanese film

A yak at the Oscars: first nomination for Bhutanese film

Filmed in one of the remotest corners in one of the world's most inaccessible countries, "Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom", is the first Bhutanese film ever nominated for an Academy Award.

Text size:

At an altitude of 3,400 metres (11,150 feet), Lunana, where it was shot on location, is home to around 50 people and lies up to 10 days' trek from the nearest motorable road.

Winters are long and harsh, and solar power is the only electricity source, creating major logistical challenges.

Equipment and supplies for the film were carried in by 75 mules, while more than 70 helicopter trips transported the cast and crew.

The movie explores a society in transition through Ugyen, a discontent teacher with dreams of making it big as a singer in Australia, but who is transferred to Lunana, a village of yak herders and fungus collectors.

His initial reaction to Lunana is overwhelmingly negative, but the locals -- real-life villagers playing themselves -- slowly spark a change of heart.

The script is laced with Bhutanese mysticism and environmental messages, while the action takes place against a natural backdrop of vast vistas and snow-capped peaks.

"It is a story about yak songs, it is a story about the value of yak dung," said first-time director Pawo Choyning Dorji.

"It touches upon this universal human story, about seeking what you want, where you belong, seeking happiness.

"That is something that is really needed in our world," he told AFP.

"With the pandemic we have become a society where we want to separate, we want to build boundaries, we want to build walls, we want to highlight what makes us different, what makes us better or they worse than us.

"I wanted to show a simple story where all of us could find and celebrate this universal human quality."

In January the film was selected as one of five nominees for Best International Feature Film at the Oscars taking place next month.

- 'Happy country' -

Bhutan is known for its concept of Gross National Happiness, prioritising well-being as well as economic development, and Ugyen wears a T-shirt emblazoned with the phrase in the film's opening scenes.

But growth has brought greater desire, and thousands of Bhutanese have left their Himalayan homeland in recent years in search of better financial and educational opportunities.

Australia is their favourite destination, so much so that Bhutanese now refer to the "Australian Dream", and the country opened an embassy in Canberra in October.

Teachers are highly respected in Bhutan and along with doctors are the highest-paid government employees, at most ranks earning more than civil servants of equivalent grade, but hundreds of them are resigning every year.

"There are so many Bhutanese who seem to be leaving this so-called 'happy country' to look for happiness elsewhere," said Dorji.

"There's nothing wrong with that," he added. "That's just how life is."

Lunana epitomises the changes Bhutan is undergoing: 3G mobile technology was installed in the village just as the film crew were wrapping up production.

Dorji says the local school's star pupil Pem Zam -- who in the movie tells Ugyen that teachers "touch the future" -- "messages me on Facebook".

- Homemade butter -

"Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom" is only the second Bhutanese film ever to be submitted to the Oscars, after "The Cup" in 1999, made by Dorji's spiritual and cinematographic teacher, Khyentse Norbu. "The Cup" was critically acclaimed but did not make the shortlist for an award.

"Lunana" has already accumulated 18 prizes on the international film festival circuit, but the director said he had "no expectations" from Hollywood.

Many Bhutanese are hearing about the Oscars for the first time as a result of the movie.

One monk told Dorji that he offered a kilogram of homemade butter and 50 Bhutanese ngultrum ($0.60) at a temple to pray for Lunana's success.

"Other films have these big budgets pushing their campaign, we don't," said Dorji.

"But we are a campaign that is carried by the hopes, aspirations and prayers of a whole country."

C.Rojas--TFWP