THE NEXT GUARDIAN
Run Bhattarai, Dorottya Zurbó | Bhutan, Hungary 2017 | 74 Min. | OmeU
In a remote village in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan, Gyembo (16) and his sister Tashi (15) aimlessly roam around? while their father meticulously polishes the ancient relics inside the altar of their private monastery. This family has been taking care of the temple from one generation to the next for thousands of years. Unlike their father whose life revolves around the monastery, Gyembo and Tashi have grown up with desires that go beyond the confines of this sacred place. While Gyembo wants to become a football player he is also the only confidante for Tashi who identifies herself as a transgender. Following tradition, the father wants Gyembo to carry on the family heritage. He genuinely believes that the only way for Gyembo to accumulate good Karma is to leave school and dedicate his life towards religion. This film explores the irony of two generations with contrasting dreams living alongside each other. The outcome of the generation gap is a bittersweet story of a family caught in a time clash.
The contrasting dreams of two generations clash within the microcosm of an ancient Buddhist monastery in Bhutan, when Gyembo an ordinary teenager is chosen as the next guardian of their family monastery by his father.
In collaboraton with: Gyembo, Tashi, Tenzin, Phub Lhamo
A film by: Arun Bhattarai & Dorottya Zurbó
Edited by: Károly Szalai H.S.E.
Director of Photography: Arun Bhattarai
Music by: Ádám Balázs
Sound Design by: Rudolf Várhegyi H.A.S.E.
Producer: Julianna Ugrin
Co-Producer: Arun Bhattarai
Executive Producer: Laetitia Schoofs
Production Manager: Zsófia Zurbó
Screenings
IDFA: International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam
Biography Dorottya Zurbó – director
Dorottya Zurbó (Budapest, 1988) graduated from the first edition of DocNomads Joint Masters for which she was awarded full Erasmus Mundus scholarship in Lisbon, Budapest and Brussels. She is also an honours graduate in film theory and history from ELTE, Budapest. Currently she is a D.L.A. student at the University of Theatre and Film Arts in Budapest where she is also a lecturer in the field of transmedia and experimental documentary. Her short films have won several awards including the Best Documentary in the Student Competition at Astra IDFF in Romania, 2014 and have been screened in many festivals (Verzió, One World, Doclisboa and Zagrebdox). Her latest short documentary (Distance) was premiered at the Jihlava IDFF in the Fascinations Experimental Film Competition this year. Her first feature length documentary (The Next Guardian; co-director) shot in Bhutan will be screened at IDFA in the First Appearance Competition. She is also working on her second feature lengths documentary (Lessons in Hungarian) supported by the Incubator Program of the Hungarian National Film Fund. She was invited to the IDFAcademy Summer School 2015. She was part of Sarajevo Talent Campus 2015. She was awarded with a scholarship for young emerging artists from the Hungarian Academy of Arts for one year in 2015.
Biography Arun Bhattarai – director
Arun Bhattarai (Samtse, Bhutan, 1985) graduated from the first edition of Docnomads Joint Masters for which he was awarded a full Erasmus Mundus scholarship in Lisbon, Budapest and Brussels. Prior to this he was working at the Bhutan Broadcasting Service (BBS) as a TV director for youth documentaries and TV programs for more than 5 years. His short documentaries have been screened in festivals like Prix Jeunesse Festival, Germany and Alparvima Film Festival, India. He developed his first feature-length documentary (The Next Guardian) on several international workshops and pitching forums (IDFAcademy Summer School, Dare to Dream, TokyoDocs, AIDC). The film was supported by the IDFA Bertha Fund and will be screened at IDFA- First Appearance Competition this year. Currently he is working on his second feature-length documentary (Kelden) supported by The Asia Pitch 2016. He has just established his own production company (Sound Pictures) dedicated to creative documentaries. He is one of the few independent documentary filmmakers in Bhutan.
