Oscar-nominated Director, Pawo Choyning Dorji premiered his new movie, “The Monk and the Gun” at the 50 Telluride Film Festival which was held between August 31 to September 4.
The film was the only South Asian film that premiered at the festival.
The film was also selected for the centrepiece section of the Toronto International Film Festival, which features 14 films from South Asia.
Hollywood’s Premiere news website, Deadline Hollywood, wrote “Set in 2006, the film revolves around a group of monks, villagers, urbanites, and a hapless American antique arms collector, during Bhutan’s transition to democracy.”
Deadline Hollywood says that the film explores the impossibility of embracing modernity without reckoning with the past.
The trailer for the film also shows a story that could be as captivating as Pawo’s previous film, Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom, which was nominated for the Best International Feature category at the Oscars last year.
The film’s cast includes popular Bhutanese actors like Tandin Sonam, Deki Lhamo, and Tandin Wangchuk, the lead singer of the popular band Misty Terrace, who happens to portray the role of Tashi, “The Monk” with the gun.
