Bhutanese director Dechen Roder was in India to screen her much acclaimed film - I, the Song - Bhutan's official submission for the international feature film category at the 98th Academy Awards. It was the opening film at the recently held Asian Women's Film Festival organised by the International Association of Women for Radio and Television (IAWRT) in the capital.
This was the 45-year-old Dechen Roder's second feature film and it swept up eight national awards in Bhutan in the categories of Best Director, Best Editor, Best Screenplay, Best Production, Best Original Music Score, Best Actor Female and Male and Best Film In short the film took the Himalayan kingdom by storm. It bagged the Best Director and Critics Picks awards at the Tallin Black festival at a premiere screening. So far, it has been screened in about 30 film festivals and theaters in Bhutan.
The film tells the story of a schoolteacher whose life is turned upside down as she is accused of being in a non-consensual pornographic video and loses her job. Traumatised and shunned, she then travels across Bhutan to track down the woman who resembles her and who she has been mistaken for. The film is nuanced and layered and asks many questions about identity as it unfolds. Excerpts from a conversation with Roder in Delhi after the successful screening of the film at the India International Centre:
Tell us about your leading lady in your film.
Tandin Bidha is one of Bhutan's most well known leading ladies. She has acted in over 45 films and she won the Best Yakushi Pearl award for Best Actor at the Osaka Asian Film Festival in Japan and the best actor, female lead, at the national awards in Bhutan. But I picked her for my film after I watched a film Tandin had directed herself and also acted in. It was an independent film and very different from her usual commercial films she acted in as the lead. I realised she had the range I required.
What prompted you to choose your Director of Photography (DOP) from India for this film?
I wanted to work with a female cinematographer. On the internet, I came across the Indian Women Cinematographers Collective and browsed through their profiles and filmography. It is here that I came across Rangoli Agarwal. While most of the women had very impressive work profiles, what made me choose her is that she had written that she loves mountains. I have just edited her film and we have other joint projects planned.
Is it easy for you to collaborate from Bhutan with Indian crews?
Indian crews need work permits but under the India-Bhutan collaboration so it is quite smooth. There is also the India - Bhutan Foundation which sponsored us to come to India to attend the IAWRT festival.
Give us a bird’s eye view of what the film industry in Bhutan looks like at this juncture especially the infrastructure both to produce and screen films there.
Currently Bhutan produces 20-25 films. Unfortunately we do not have film studios and infrastructure is lacking. We have only six screens of which three are in Thimpu and three in the rest of the country. In the absence of cinema theaters very often filmmakers screen their films in makeshift theaters, school auditoriums, community centres and even in open air grounds. I too have shown my films like this.
Is Bhutan a favourite film shooting destination for international filmmakers?
Yes, increasingly it is becoming a favorite and as the demand is growing the government of Bhutan is trying to build more infrastructure. Scenes from Little Buddha were shot in Bhutan and some years back Indian filmmaker Aparna Sen too shot 15, Park Avenue there.
Your mother, Kundang Choden, is a famous author, she must have influenced you greatly.
My mother was a very strong influence on me and my two siblings. She is a writer and storyteller and she collected folk tales of Bhutan and wrote short stories and novels based on those. We grew up hearing her mythological stories. Buddha figured in everyday conversations and it taught me different ways to understand my life and my work. My mother has just published her memoirs with Bloomsbury. She continues to influence me.
I believe you first began to think of becoming a filmmaker when you went to live in New York?
After college, I went to New York. I worked in a restaurant to meet my daily living costs and used to go to a video lending shop called Kim's Video and watched different films voraciously . In Bhutan we did not have this opportunity and in New York it opened up a new world in films for me. I also got some technical training. Then I returned to Bhutan and I made my first film in 2005. I did my own camera and sound with a handycam. I, the Song is my second film.
Your film portrays the misogyny on social media very powerfully. Is it a growing problem even in Bhutan?
Yes, it has become quite rampant. In Bhutan we jumped so quickly into modernity, from oral to visual, we forgot to use a moral compass. There have been many cases like this in reality and then what follows is a judgemental society which then ostracises and blames the woman.
Some countries are beginning to ban social media for children under 15..do you think Bhutan should also do that?
I am not sure bans always work, but we should think about how to protect our children . We need to sensitise.
What film are you working on next?
I am collaborating with Rangoli on a creative documentary. I am also producing a film for another Bhutanese director. I have applied for a grant from the Bhutan government which it has started giving to six filmmakers. The grant is into its second edition and encourages filmmakers to make their films.
This is a story about a single mom in recovery from dependence and her struggle. We start filming from July and Rangoli is again our DOP.
(Nupur Basu is a journalist and documentary filmmaker)