The Next Guardian — The main program
2017
Hungary, Bhutan
Documentary
98 min.
In a remote village in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan, Gyembo (16) and Tashi (15) aimlessly roam while their father meticulously polishes the ancient relics inside the altar of their family monastery. This family has been taking care of the monastery from one generation to the next for thousands of years. Following tradition, the father wants his son Gyembo to carry on the family heritage but he has other desires just like his sister. The film through bittersweet micro-situations takes us inside a Bhutanese family where the contrasting dreams of two generations are caught in a time clash.
12+
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
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
Arun Bhattarai
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. He has established his own production company Sound Pictures dedicated to creative documentaries. He is one of the few independent documentary filmmakers in Bhutan. Arun Bhattarai's first feature length documentary The Next Guardian premiered at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) in 2017 It has since been screened at major festivals, had theatrical releases and broadcasted around the world.
Dorottya Zurbó
Dorottya Zurbó (Budapest, 1988) graduated from the first edition of DocNomads Joint Master for which she was awarded full Erasmus Mundus scholarship in Lisbon, Budapest and Brussels. She codirected a documentary (The Next Guardian; 2017) shot in Bhutan which was premiered at IDFA in the First Appearance Competition and participated in many international festivals.