‘Lunana: A Yak In The Classroom’ Team Talks Bhutan’s First-Ever Oscar Nomination And Kicks In The Pelvis – Contenders Film: The Nominees

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An Oscar nominee for Best International Feature, Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom marks a first for the country of Bhutan, which has only ever submitted two films for consideration (and actually entered Lunana two years in a row following its earlier disqualification on a technicality).

Filmmaker Pawo Choyning Dorji and star Sherab Dorji joined us for Contenders Film: The Nominees to discuss the making of the movie, a charming story of a teacher who is reluctantly transferred to a remote village and ends up learning quite a bit throughout his journey.On nominations day, the director told me he felt like it had been a dream, and “it still feels very surreal,” he said, noting that when Lunana was accepted for consideration, “I think we were ranked as one of the least likely films to make the shortlist.

We made the shortlist somehow and after we made the shortlist we were again ranked as the least likely to make the nomination.

And somehow we have ended up here. More than anything I’m enjoying this journey that lets us share our country and our culture with the rest of the world and that’s what we are in it for.”This is Sherab Dorji’s first time acting, and he went headfirst into a situation that saw him share the screen with both children and animals.