International Oscar: A Yak in the Classroom
Friday, September 18, 2020 at 11:57PM by Nathaniel R
We've already told you about submissions from Ivory Coast, Poland, and Switzerland. Now we have a fourth contender for the Best International Feature Oscar. We suspect in the end that there won't be as many entries as usual (the list usually reaches about 90 films) due to the chaos of the pandemic but you never know.
Bhutan will be sending Lunana A Yak in the Classroom by 37 year-old photographer turned first time director Pawo Choyniing Dorji. It's about a young man who is assigned to teach school children in a remote village in the Himalayas but doesn't want to be there (at first). This is only the second submission from the small landlocked country which is located on the southern border of Tibet. Their film industry only began in the 1990s but produces multiple films per year and is reportedly growing quickly. Given their output, we expect they'll start submitting more frequently since the neighboring countries that influence their cinema (Nepal, Bangladesh, China, Tibet, and especially India) all submit regularly. Their first submission was the feel-good film The Cup (1999) about soccer-obsessed monks in the Himalayas.
Reader Comments (6)
I haven't seen this, but I already know it has a better title than 95% of other movies.
I’m excited to watch this. I went to Bhutan the other year and it is a gorgeous country.
Cash -- right? I wish it was just called "A Yak In the Classroom" ... even better!
Kelly -- ooh, I read in an article while researching this that Bhutan doesn't have a big tourist trade because it's so expensive and time consuming to get there. so you're a rarity!
just a head's up - Philippines also already has their submission chosen in Mindnao.
RJ - link... ? I can't find any info about that film or the news online. perhaps I need to type in Tagalog language?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindanao_(film)