Travellers and Magicians

Dondup is a young government official posted to a village in the mountains of Bhutan. He dreams of getting to America; even the traditional gho he wears is made of denim. Needing to reach the city for a visa, he misses the one bus and has to continue on foot. Along the road an apple seller, a monk, a drunk, a widowed paper maker and the man's daughter Sonam join him. As the road stretches on, the monk starts telling a story and the film splits in two: on one side the travellers, on the other the story of Tashi that the monk is telling. What he tells is also a story about escape, and what it is doing to the person listening slowly becomes clear. The director, Khyentse Norbu, is a Buddhist lama and had earlier made The Cup. The film was shot in Bhutan, in Dzongkha, in the country's own landscape; it is among the first features to come out of there.