After his first success “Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom,” Oscar nominee Pawo Choyning Dorji's second feature-length fiction film is a likable, if not overwhelming, comedy. While his directorial debut was nominated for Best International Feature Film at the 2021 Academy Awards, the first Bhutanese movie to be so recognized, Dorji's second production is also making its way around the world, including being nominated for the next Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Film category.
The Monk and the Gun is currently screening on cinemas, courtesy of Roadside Attractions
Kingdom of Bhutan, 2006. Bhutan becomes the last country in the world to connect to the Internet and television, and now the biggest change of all: democracy. To teach the people how to vote, the authorities organize a mock election in which the locals show their inexperience and lack of conviction. Traveling to rural Bhutan, where religion is more popular than politics,...
The Monk and the Gun is currently screening on cinemas, courtesy of Roadside Attractions
Kingdom of Bhutan, 2006. Bhutan becomes the last country in the world to connect to the Internet and television, and now the biggest change of all: democracy. To teach the people how to vote, the authorities organize a mock election in which the locals show their inexperience and lack of conviction. Traveling to rural Bhutan, where religion is more popular than politics,...
- 2/7/2024
- by Hugo Hamon
- AsianMoviePulse
Bhutanese writer-director Pawo Choyning Dorji’s second feature, The Monk and the Gun, begins with a crackling radio broadcast. It’s 2006, but as it’s only been seven years since the Kingdom of Bhutan lifted its ban on television and internet, this is still the most efficient way to bring information to the masses. The broadcast itself informs the people of a bold new form of modernity that’s about to arrive in the country: democracy.
The main plot of The Monk and the Gun concerns the old lama (Kelsang Choejay) of a small village named Ura. He seems disturbed by the news that the king will be stepping down, so as to cede power to the people, and asks his young disciple, Tashi (Tandin Wangchuk), to help him with a ritual that will “make things right.” He won’t say what this ritual is—only that it must take...
The main plot of The Monk and the Gun concerns the old lama (Kelsang Choejay) of a small village named Ura. He seems disturbed by the news that the king will be stepping down, so as to cede power to the people, and asks his young disciple, Tashi (Tandin Wangchuk), to help him with a ritual that will “make things right.” He won’t say what this ritual is—only that it must take...
- 2/4/2024
- by Ross McIndoe
- Slant Magazine
"Why would a monk take our gun?" Roadside Attr. has unveiled the US trailer for the exceptional new film The Monk and The Gun made in the remote mountainous country of Bhutan by Bhutanese filmmaker Pawo Choyning Dorji (who was already nominated for an Oscar for his last film Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom). This premiered at the 2023 Telluride & Toronto Film Festivals and is also Bhutan's submission to the Oscars this year, of course. I had a chance to see the film and Loved it. An elderly lama, recognizing that extraordinary change is about to sweep through his country as they are introducing democratic voting, is troubled by the possible outcomes. He instructs his young disciple Tashi to set forth into the kingdom and bring him two guns before the full moon to "set it right." His quest brings him into contact with a scheming American gun collector Ron,...
- 12/7/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Bhutan’s official Oscar entry “The Monk and the Gun,” Pawo Choyning Dorji‘s follow-up to “Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom,” has been acquired by more distributors in key territories.
Rolling off premieres at Telluride, Toronto, Rome and Busan, the crowdpleaser has been acquired by Mfa+ Distribution, Edko Films (Hong Kong, Macau), Officine Ubu (Italy) and Maxam Inc. (Japan). The film is represented by Films Boutique in international markets. The movie was also acquired by Roadside Attraction for the U.S. in a deal negotiated with UTA, which is repping the film in North America.
Previous deals were scored with Pyramide Distribution (France), September Films (Benelux), Rialto Distribution (Australia), Future Films (Scandinavia), A Contracorriente (Spain), Lev Films (Israel), Aurora Films (Poland), Trigon (Switzerland), Alambique Films (Portugal) and Impact Films (India and Indian Subcontinent).
“The Monk and the Gun” is set in the Kingdom of Bhutan in 2006. Modernization has finally...
Rolling off premieres at Telluride, Toronto, Rome and Busan, the crowdpleaser has been acquired by Mfa+ Distribution, Edko Films (Hong Kong, Macau), Officine Ubu (Italy) and Maxam Inc. (Japan). The film is represented by Films Boutique in international markets. The movie was also acquired by Roadside Attraction for the U.S. in a deal negotiated with UTA, which is repping the film in North America.
Previous deals were scored with Pyramide Distribution (France), September Films (Benelux), Rialto Distribution (Australia), Future Films (Scandinavia), A Contracorriente (Spain), Lev Films (Israel), Aurora Films (Poland), Trigon (Switzerland), Alambique Films (Portugal) and Impact Films (India and Indian Subcontinent).
“The Monk and the Gun” is set in the Kingdom of Bhutan in 2006. Modernization has finally...
- 12/1/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Bhutan’s official Oscar entry “The Monk And The Gun,” Pawo Choyning Dorji’s follow-up to “Lunana: A Yak in The Classroom,” has been bought by a raft of well-established international theatrical distributors.
Following its festival premieres at Telluride, Toronto, Rome and Busan, “The Monk and the Gun” has been sold by Films Boutique to Pyramide Distribution (France), September Films (Benelux), Rialto Distribution (Australia), Future Films (Scandinavia), A Contracorriente (Spain), Lev Films (Israel), Aurora Films (Poland), Trigon (Switzerland), Alambique Films (Portugal) and Impact Films (India and Indian Subcontinent).
Earlier this week, the crowdpleaser was also acquired by Roadside Attraction for the U.S. in a deal negotiated with UTA, which is repping the film in North America. Films Boutique is currently negotiating deals in other territories.
Choyning Dorji’s feature debut, “Lunana, a Yak in the Classroom,” was the second film ever submitted by Bhutan for the Oscar race and...
Following its festival premieres at Telluride, Toronto, Rome and Busan, “The Monk and the Gun” has been sold by Films Boutique to Pyramide Distribution (France), September Films (Benelux), Rialto Distribution (Australia), Future Films (Scandinavia), A Contracorriente (Spain), Lev Films (Israel), Aurora Films (Poland), Trigon (Switzerland), Alambique Films (Portugal) and Impact Films (India and Indian Subcontinent).
Earlier this week, the crowdpleaser was also acquired by Roadside Attraction for the U.S. in a deal negotiated with UTA, which is repping the film in North America. Films Boutique is currently negotiating deals in other territories.
Choyning Dorji’s feature debut, “Lunana, a Yak in the Classroom,” was the second film ever submitted by Bhutan for the Oscar race and...
- 10/26/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Roadside Attractions has acquired U.S. rights to Bhutan’s official selection for Best International Feature at the 96th Academy Awards, The Monk and the Gun, a spiritual fable written, directed, and co-produced by the Oscar-nominated director of 2019’s Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom, Pawo Choyning Dorj. Contending for Best International Film, Lunana became the first Bhutanese film ever nominated for an Oscar. The Monk and the Gun premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and later the Toronto International Film Festival where it won critical and audience acclaim, currently holding a 100% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
In my Deadline review of the film after its Telluride premiere I said, “If I were a betting man — which I am — I would venture to say that with his second film The Monk and the Gun, which just had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival this weekend and goes on to Toronto next week,...
In my Deadline review of the film after its Telluride premiere I said, “If I were a betting man — which I am — I would venture to say that with his second film The Monk and the Gun, which just had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival this weekend and goes on to Toronto next week,...
- 10/18/2023
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
Anyone who wants to travel the world — vicariously, of course — will get a kick out of The Monk and the Gun, a film from Bhutan that had its world premiere at this year’s Telluride Film Festival. Director Pawo Choyning Dorji earned an Oscar nomination for best international film of 2021 for his Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom, an enjoyable comedy-drama about the advent of modern technology in the remotest sections of Bhutan.
The director’s new movie also focuses on important transitions in Bhutan during the mid-2000s, when the king decided to abdicate and introduce elections for the very first time in the country’s history. Part of the film dramatizes the process of introducing mock elections to teach the people how to vote, which proves to be something of a challenge, since many local residents remain loyal to the king and reluctant to embrace such a dramatic change.
The director’s new movie also focuses on important transitions in Bhutan during the mid-2000s, when the king decided to abdicate and introduce elections for the very first time in the country’s history. Part of the film dramatizes the process of introducing mock elections to teach the people how to vote, which proves to be something of a challenge, since many local residents remain loyal to the king and reluctant to embrace such a dramatic change.
- 9/5/2023
- by Stephen Farber
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
"We live in strange times." Cinetic has debuted a festival promo trailer for the indie film The Monk and the Gun, the second feature made by the very talented Bhutanese filmmaker Pawo Choyning Dorji. His first film, Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom, was nominated for Best International Film at the 2022 Academy Awards - getting him tons of extra attention. He's back with his next new feature, another drama set in the stunning mountains of Bhutan (it's near Nepal & Tibet). The Monk and the Gun premiered at the Telluride Film Festival this weekend, and stops at TIFF next this fall - seeking a distributor. The intro from TIFF: "Set in 2006, when the Kingdom of Bhutan began its transition to democracy, this playful ensemble drama is a poignant parable about the impossibility of embracing modernity without reckoning with the past." The story follows an American who travels into Bhutan in search...
- 9/3/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
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