The Monk And The Gun
A Film by Pawo Choyning Dorji
2023 - Bhutan/France/USA/Taiwan - Comedy/Drama - 107 min.
with Tandin Wangchuk , Deki Lhamo , Pema Zangmo Sherpa , Tandin Sonam & Harry Einhorn
Kingdom of Bhutan, 2006. Modernization has finally arrived. 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, but the locals seem unconvinced. Travelling to rural Bhutan where religion is more popular than politics, the election supervisor discovers that a monk is planning a mysterious ceremony for the election day.
Shortlist 2024
More Films
Verdict
A film by Raymund Ribay Gutierrez
2019 - France/Philippines - Drama - 1.78 - 126 min.
Joy and her six-year-old daughter Angel live in Manila, with her husband, Dante, a small-time criminal. As so often in the past, Dante comes home drunk at night and beats Joy brutally. This time, he also hurts Angel. Joy grabs her daughter and flees to the local police post to finally get him sent to jail. Joy learns that justice takes time at best and is impossible to get at worst. Not without reason, she feels that she and her daughter are increasingly under threat…
No More Fear
A film by Mourad Ben Cheikh
2011 - Tunisia - Documentary - 1.85 DCP - 74 min.
After the self-immolation of a street seller, the people of Tunisia started a revolution that would give an end to 24 years of dictatorship of President Ben Ali and gave birth to the Arab Spring Revolutions. It was not a Jasmine revolution as Jasmine does not result in death - rather the cry of despair rising from a generation of graduates. We shall never again have any fear for this new Tunisia. This film is a testimony and a tribute to the people of Tunisia.
She, A Chinese
A film by Xiaolu Guo
2010 - France/Germany/United Kingdom - Drama - 1.85 DCP - 98 min.
She, A Chinese tells the story of, a young Chinese woman, MEI, who leaves her monotonous village life behind for the excitement of the nearest big city, Chongqing. However, life there doesn't quite turn out as she expected it; fired from her factory job, she falls in love with SPIKEY, a hit man whose own past soon catches up with him. A spur of the moment decision takes Mei to London, where she marries an elderly man, MR HUNT. A new life begins for Mei, trapped in the silence of Mr Hunt's house, alienated and bored. Her frustration at life with Mr Hunt leads Mei into an affair with RACHID, an Indian immigrant who runs a local take away restaurant, and she moves into the backroom of the restaurant to live with him. Rachid decides to return to his own country, leaving Mei pregnant and alone, facing an uncertain future.