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LUNANA: A YAK IN THE CLASSROOM, DIRECTED BY PAWO CHOYNING
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In "Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom," an indifferent young teacher, Ugyen, is assigned to a school high in the mountains of Bhutan. This is far from where he'd rather be - Australia - and it's an eight-day schlep by foot from where he currently lives, the modern Bhutanese city of Thimphu. As Ugyen makes the trek with two guides, the director, Pawo Choyning Dorji, shows the declining population and rising altitude along the way. Lunana numbers less than 100 residents.
Ugyen's charming, yak-herding hosts are an internet-free picture of serenity against the backdrop of verdant, misty slopes. Parables about teachers sent to the provinces are usually a two-way street: education and advancement for the students, life lessons for their instructor. Ugyen (plainly played by Sherab Dorji) is especially undistinguished, and despite teaching the children about math and toothbrushes, he receives the brunt of the story's enlightenment about the upsides of traditional living.
By Nicolas Rapold
READ MORE: 'Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom' Review: Remote Learning - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
