Hungarian movie is showcased in Thimphu !

What a nice surprise: the award-winning film of my friend Agnes Kocsis titled "Fresh Air" will be showcased in Thimphu at the EU Film Festival in Bhutan. 

Showtime is on 25 Oct Saturday at 2pm at City Cinema Hall 1.

 

Visiting a film crew next to the Chinese border

In a small traditional village located in the Haa valley, western Bhutan, not far from the Chinese border, a new Bhutanese movie is being made. The director is Karma Tshering who was the first professional movie maker in Bhutan. With substantial international experience, he's now back to making fiction movies after a 7-year period of documentary film making. One of the leading roles is played by popular actress Kezang D Wangmo. 

I got invited to the first day of the shooting and I was impressed by the humble and welcoming crew. I had a great time and look forward to the premiere. 

In good company with Kezang D Wangmo and Karma Tshering

The crew in action

A young Bhutanese actress and much more

 

Kezang D Wangmo is very humble and modest when it comes to discussing her achievements as an actress, singer, dancer, poet and goodwill ambassador for organic farming in Bhutan. Sometimes, it is her husband, Dorji Tashi, coordinator of Loden, who reminds us of her awards or special projects. She speaks in a non-celebrity manner with strength and concentration in her voice.  She is 23 years and 3 months old and she is planning the writing and production of her first movie.

Kezang was born in Paro, western part of Bhutan, and learned acting on her own at school performances and  watching Bollywood films made in India without any special course or teacher. She acted in her first film, a tragic-romance, in 2009 which immediately made her famous bringing her two national awards: the Best Female Lead Actor and the Best Newcomer. Since then, she has acted in five other films, but she was not as satisfied with her roles offered in these movies as in the first one.  ‘It was easy and natural to play in my first movie. I could simply be myself.’ – says Kezang hinting that the other films required her to fit into more common stories and characters.

Before becoming a well-known actress, Kezang already established her name as a singer through a local hit song ‘A  la la ngi sem’ and today she keeps getting invited to sing and dance at schools, national celebrations, and community events. In 2007, she submitted her poem to the prestigious National Poetry Competition of the Tarayana Foundation and won the first prize. Her piece was a tribute to the fourth king of Bhutan and later published with other selected poems by the Queen Mother Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck.

I went to see Kezang’s recent movie in which she played a non-lead role of an English teacher at primary school in the countryside falling love with a man who just came home from a long stay in London to rediscover his roots. "Bhutanese mainstream movies, like this one, target an audience educated on Bollywood. These long 160-minute or so films always tend to have the same storyline with lots of music and a break in the middle. Given the production time and low budget, theoretically I could make 6 to 12 such a movies a year, but with my other professional and family commitments, I can only afford three or so a year. For one movie, depending on the role, producer and whether the wardrobe is provided, I get a fix fee of 70-100 thousands Ngultrum, US$1500-2200." This means that Kezang’s payment is not linked to the number of viewers of her films, even if producing popular films in Bhutan is apparently a good business.

On the cover sold at a temporary cinema hall in Paro

Hearing about the Bollywood link I wonder whether there is a celebrity culture in Bhutan. "Currently, there is no celebrity culture here. People recognize me in the street and shops, but they don’t approach me for a picture or autograph. They stare at me only secretly; they behave as I was not there. However, it is slowly changing and when I’m invited to schools, kids want pictures and autograph. We also have sort of celebrity magazines, I was on the cover of one of them recently, and people call me to produce their commercials with me, but they can’t pay."

Surrounded by kids.

Kezang is vegetarian and in her free time she promotes Happy Green Cooperative, the country’s new organic farming and food movement, especially among youth as an alternative to moving to Thimphu where jobs are scarce. When asked about Hollywood actors she appreciates, the names of Kate Winslet and Julia Roberts pop up. When asked about future plans, Kezang enthusiastically starts talking about her dream project of scripting, producing and acting in her own film. "This will be a movie for both Bhutanese and international audiences. It will be beautiful and well-done."

I can’t wait to see it.

Surrounded by nuns.

Kezang D Wangmo: Beyond Praise

When your steps mark these mountain paths

many years from now,

stories will move the lips of those

you pass along the way.

As clouds gather nears the ridges of pine

below in his season’s yield

a farmer will tell you of wiser seeds

sown by one and one man tilled.

The school’s foundation

and the clinic’s wall,

the roads and the farms of our land,

blossomed to give us our health and hope

as the modern was grown by his hands.

He will speak of a leader

who like a powerful sword

would defend with clarity and grace

Against threats of militant action

Or corruption of inner space.

He will finish in whisper

of chaos like oceans,

how mountain storms gather

in confused explosion,

Of how one mans greatness

will be vivid and lasting

like the silence that comes

after the storms fierce passing,

Of a selflessness

that could endlessly reign,

of power grown great

by giving away.

But when your steps mark these paths

many years from today

the voices who praise

in spite of their phrases

will end in silence…

For beyond the sound of our voice,

and the word that we seek,

His majesty remains untouchable,

always above the praises we speak.

Copyright Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck 

You can make a box office movie for $35,000

I went to see my first Bhutanese movie. A few years ago, Indian and American movies attracted most people to the country’s few movie theatres. Today, only local films are screened and local producers are queuing for airtime with their completed movies. Making a movie requires the investment of around $35,000.

Thimphu has two cinemas that screen films once in each weekday and twice in weekends in local language, Dzongkha. Popular movies tend to last longer than 2.5 hours with lots of music and a 15-minute popcorn and bio break in the middle. Art movies, like in other countries, often deal with issues like drug abuse, gender inequalities, environment or unemployment.

This time I saw a pop movie that was shot in London and Bhutan with two young actors in the story who return to Bhutan from a long stay in London under the influence of Western culture to discover the traditional Bhutanese life in the countryside. It was not the best ever, but great fun for me.

Based on this movie and what I read about mainstream Bhutanese movies, here are a few general rules for them:

1.   There is always a love story in the film.

2.   A moment of happiness or sadness is immediately followed by a song and dance sequence. These songs are shot either at mountain tops, river banks or  tea gardens and as the music plays on, at some moment, the actor and actress running towards each other in slow motion.

3.   If the story is set in rural Bhutan, there is a ‘night hunting” scene. Don’t you know what it is? I will tell you later, but it is something between men and women …

4.   There must be a dwarf in the film whether it is necessary or not.

5.   In every film, there is Phurba Thinlay as the funny man. He is Bhutan’s most popular comedian. He’s really funny.



The nation's funny man



As I said: Thimphu is small. One of the actresses in the film, Kezang D Wangmo, happened to be my local colleague’s wife and I was invited to their home after the show. I was served excellent chili food, hot water which is very common here, and a bit of local spirit: ara.

The day after, I just entered a DVD rental place (50 Ngultrum for a DVD per day, $1.25) and I bumped into one of the leading characters of last night. I couldn’t resist to contributing to the emerging celebrity culture and asked him for a picture.



Movie stars



Thimphu's two cinemas. I went to the new one.