THE MONK AND THE GUN Trailer (2024) Drama Movie

THE MONK AND THE GUN Trailer (2024) Drama MovieShow more

THE MONK AND THE GUN Trailer (2024) Drama Movie
© 2023 - RoadsideFlix

EXCLUSIVE: A trailer has been released for The Monk And The Gun, the latest work from Bhutanese director Pawo Choyning Dorji, whose last film Lunana: A Yak In The Classroom was nominated in the Best International Feature category of the Oscars.

The playful ensemble drama is set to receive its world premiere at Telluride Film Festival and has also been selected for the Centrepiece section of Toronto International Film Festival.

UTA is repping the film for North America, while Berlin-based Films Boutique is handling international sales.

Set in 2006, the film revolves around a a group of monks, villagers, urbanites, and a hapless American antique arms collector, during Bhutan’s transition to democracy following the abdication of the King.

As Bhutan has never experienced an election, government officials stage a mock election as a training exercise, although even registering folks to vote is a challenge in regions where people don’t know their birthdates.

An elderly lama, recognizing the great change sweeping his country, instructs a monk to obtain a pair of guns. The American visitor, who has come to purchase a coveted 19th-century rifle, assumes the transaction will be a slam dunk but fails to anticipate that, just as the Bhutanese are unfamiliar with democracy, they are also less persuadable when it comes to the laws of commerce.

Along the way, the film explores the impossibility of embracing modernity without reckoning with the past.

The ensemble cast of the film includes Tandin Wangchuk, Tandin Sonam and Harry Einhorn. Production companies include Dangphu Dingphu: A 3 Pigs Production, Films Boutique, Journey to the East Films, Tomson Films, Closer Media, Animandala, N8 Studios and Wooden Trailer Productions. France’s CNC Cinéma du Monde and Switzerland’s Visions Sud Est both supported the film.

Dorji’s Lunana: A Yak In The Classroom premiered at the BFI London Film Festival in 2019, received wide festival play and was sold to multiple territories, including Samuel Goldwyn for North America.