Bhutan’s Oscar© 2024 Entry for Best International Feature: ‘The Monk and the Gun’ by Pawo Choyning Dorji

One of the tiniest (and happiest) countries is Bhutan, next to Nepal on the map of South Asia.

My guess is Bhutan’s film, The Monk and the Gun will be shortlisted. Roadside Attractions is betting on the same thing and has recently picked it up for the U.S. from ISA Films Boutique who also has sold it widely to the rest of the world. * This coproduction of Bhutan, France, USA (The Jim Henson Company!), and Taiwan is directed by Pawo Choyning Dorji whose last film, A Yak in the Classroom surprised everyone in 2022 when it was nominated for the Oscar with no publicity (Drive My Car won). This time around Pawo is represented by UTA, and the NY indie film guru and attorney John Sloss is repping the film.

In a discussion with Dorji, he explained that in Bhutan storytelling is so integral to society that there is no word for it. Storytelling unties a knot. This is a film about innocence and how the country opened up (but not too much) in 2006 when the king said he was going to install democracy and was going to step down.

Bhutan is isolated by mountains that are not be be climbed and forests, conserved by law and covering 55% of the land. It is the only carbon negative country in the world. It has no diplomatic relations with other countries in order to keep foreign influences out. However, Rambo is a symbol in the country and the self-taught filmmaker Pawo, son of a diplomat and raised abroad, wanted to make a film about him. However, Stallone said no. After the success of A Yak in the Classroom, Pawo became known a bit more and Barbara Broccoli said it was OK if he used the symbol of 007 in his film. The gun, as you can guess from the title, is a central part of this gentle satirical look at Bhutan in 2006 as well as a critique of American values.

When learning how to vote, the rural citizens are asked their birthdates. “How would we know such useless information,“ one villager responds.In the practice run on how to vote, each candidate was represented by a color, and the party represented by yellow won by a landslide. Why? Because yellow was the color of the King and no one could understand that he would no longer be King. But that was only a side story to the story of The Monk and the Gun.

Aside from the voting initiative, the local Lama asks his monk to find him two guns. Here enters the divisive nature of American politics as well as the U.S.’s obsessive love affair with firearms. While poking fun at the evils of western influences he also brings to light the dangers of unenlightened mob rule. In the end, the Lama’s intentions are both gratifying and illuminating. Go see it!

Asked about the audience reactions, Pawo said the political ramifications are interesting to the U.S. audience (He studied poli sci in the U.S.) In Bhutan they cried. In Korea the film was about culture and loss.

This is the fourth time Bhutan has submitted with one disqualification: Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom was disqualified in 2020 but was resubmitted in 2021 and nominated! That was its only nomination thus far.

Roadside Attractions will release The Monk and the Gun in the U.S. February 2024.

*Films Boutique has licensed The Monk and the Gun to Rialto for Australia, N.Z.; MFA+ for Austria and Germany; September for Benelux, Pyramide for France; EDKO for Hong Kong and Macao; India to Impact; Israel to Lev, Italy to Officine UBU; Japan-Maxam I; No. America — Roadside Attractions; Poland — Aurora; Portugal-Alambique; Spain-A Contracorriente, Sweden-Future Films; Switzerland-trigon.