The Cup

Khyentse Norbu's 1999 film is regarded as the first feature made for Bhutan and was that country's first submission to the Academy Awards. While the World Cup is being played in France, two young Tibetan refugees arrive at a monastery in India; the settled atmosphere soon dissolves in football fever as the two students try everything to find a television for the final. The entire cast is non-professional; the monks and lamas are played by people actually living in the monastery at the time. Norbu is himself a well-known lama and had worked on Bertolucci's Little Buddha. The film's strength is refusing to set religious life against everyday desire: the passion for football is shown not as a transgression but as part of being human. It screened in the Directors' Fortnight at Cannes. Who it's for: viewers interested in cinema of the Himalayan region, monastic life and films made with non-professional casts. Who it's not for: anyone expecting dramatic tension and large events, or entirely unfamiliar with the football context.