Pawo Choyning Dorji’s film “Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom” is about a disillusioned teacher in his final fifth year of mandatory government service who is sent to a remote Himalayan school (an eight-day hike from the nearest bus stop).
Aspiring musician Ugyen (Sherab Dorji) has one eye on a new life in Australia. In his teaching role, he has distinguished himself with his lack of motivation and little else. To his surprise, he ends up engaging with tradition, yaks and a class full of bright-eyed, keen pupils. The villages tell him that being a teacher is a wonderful thing “because a teacher touches the future” (perhaps someone should tell the UK government?).
It’s a ridiculously heartwarming, staggeringly photogenic film… yes, unashamedly sentimental, but absolutely perfect (for me) and I loved it.
I think you should treat yourself!
PS: This from a recent article in TheGuardian (big thanks to Sarah for highlighting): “One standout performance is from a nine-year-old village girl, Pem Zam. In life, as in the film, she is the daughter of an alcoholic father, raised by her grandmother after her mother’s death”. The film’s director was determined to save her from the usual fate of local children, which was to quit school at 11 or 12 to become yak herders. Pem Zam, who is now a teenager, was recently accepted by one of Bhutan’s most prestigious schools.
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