Cinema of Bhutan

[1][2] Storytelling based on Buddhist oral history and supernatural beliefs are increasingly influencing Bhutanese cinematic structure.

[8] Gasa Lamai Singye, a tragic love story reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet, had a remake in 2016, directed by Sonam Lhendup Tshering.

It was followed by Yi Khel Gi Kawa (Price of A Letter, 2004), where Wangdi tells the story of a postal runner who worked throughout Bhutan for 26 years.

[8] In 1999, Tshering Wangyel released the first commercially successful movie in Dzongkha language, Rewaa (Hope), a love story where two college boys fall for the same girl.

Chand's film Thimphu was hailed as "doing away with the notion that all independent Bhutanese movies draw upon the country's Buddhist mysticism."

It presents the life of Bhutan's capital through different characters, including an alcoholic family, a transgender woman, and a young singer with problems of career and love.

One is Kesang Chuki, who produced ten documentaries, docudramas, and short movies, including Nangi Aums to Go-thrips (Housewives to Leaders, 2011), about the problems of Bhutanese women who assume public roles, and A Young Democracy (2008), where Chuki accompanies two candidates in their campaigns for the first ever democratic election in Bhutan.

Financial specialists and sometimes banks fund new productions that are screened in one of Bhutan's several cinemas, of which the Lugar Lobby in Thimphu with 880 seats is the biggest.

Business movies are periodically in light of an "affection" subject, here and there joined with a social issue (HIV, urbanization) taking after a customary script with exchanges, tunes, dances, complicated relations and a battle.

[18] "The long wait for screenings" has been blamed for the flourishing of a piracy industry servicing "impatient audiences eager to watch illegal copies of Dzongkha-language films.

"[16] The government of Bhutan regards cinema as important, and has committed itself to promote the local production with adequate studios and support, and more effective policies against copyright infringement.

"[16] There are also, however, more optimistic voices, persuaded that change is coming with a new generation of Bhutanese directors who "shun the influence of Bollywood and look inward," a process that has been rewarded with prizes in international festivals.