8 hrs ago
Bhutan Film Connects Melting Glaciers With Ancient Snow Lion Stories
A new short film from Bhutan is about glaciers that are melting because the world is getting warmer.
Melting glaciers can form lakes that may suddenly burst and cause dangerous floods.
Bhutanese filmmaker Pawo Choyning Dorji made the film with musician Yo-Yo Ma.
Ma plays the cello while singer Kelden Lhamo sings a Bhutanese song.
The song tells of a yak herder and his beloved yak.
The film also shares a story about a magical snow lion that lives in the icy mountains.
Bhutanese children are taught to respect glaciers because they are seen as the snow lion’s home.
The final scene was filmed very high in the mountains, where Ma needed a doctor and oxygen.
The filmmakers hope stories and music will encourage people around the world to care about climate change.
Pawo Choyning Dorji’s documentary A Song for the Snow Lion explores Bhutan’s melting glaciers and cultural traditions.
The film was made with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, who performs alongside Bhutanese singer and actress Kelden Lhamo.
Dorji says glacial lake outbursts have previously killed hundreds in remote parts of Bhutan.
A final performance was filmed at about 18,000 feet, where Ma required medical monitoring and oxygen.
The filmmakers present Bhutanese stories, songs and respect for nature as part of a wider response to global warming.
- Who
- Bhutanese filmmaker Pawo Choyning Dorji, cellist Yo-Yo Ma and Bhutanese folk singer and actress Kelden Lhamo.
- What
- They created A Song for the Snow Lion, a short documentary about melting Himalayan glaciers, Bhutanese culture and global warming.
- Where
- The story focuses on Bhutan and the Himalayas, with the film’s final scene shot at about 18,000 feet in the mountains.
- When
- The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival; the article does not specify the year. The referenced Nepal disaster occurred on August 26.
- Why
- Dorji and Ma want to draw attention to climate change and show how stories, songs and cultural values can encourage collective action.
Key facts
- Film
- A Song for the Snow Lion
- Director
- Pawo Choyning Dorji
- Musical collaborators
- Yo-Yo Ma and Kelden Lhamo
- Filming altitude
- About 18,000 feet
- Bhutan’s forest coverage
- 72 percent, according to Dorji
- Constitutional forest minimum
- 60 percent
- Referenced Nepal death toll
- More than 1,300 after an August 26 glacial disaster
Quotes
Pawo Choyning Dorji
Bhutanese filmmaker and director of A Song for the Snow Lion
“That’s why films are so important because I think that politics alone is not going to [do it], No [single] nation is going to solve this, but people and stories will, because if we create the narrative — and this film I think creates a narrative that says, ‘Wait a minute, we treasure interdependence. We’re part of nature.’ So actually, if all of us get together, then things can get solved, which goes beyond nation… which goes beyond economics, goes beyond politics. But it’s about the commonادالر”
deadline.com
“I told [Yo-Yo] that if he’s interested, we could work on a short film. And my first question to him was, ‘What is it that you want to tell the story about?’ And he said, ‘Global warming. I’m very concerned about the melting glaciers of the Himalayas.’ And for me, that has always been a concern. And for someone like Yo-Yo Ma, one of the greatest musicians, humanitarians, cultural ambassadors, to reach out and express care about something that’s to do with my home, I felt I had to do it.”
deadline.com
Sources
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