Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom(ལུང་ནག་ན)

Name: Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom
Genre: Drama

Bhutan, China · 2019
1h 49m
Director Pawo Choyning Dorji
Starring Sherab Dorji, Ugyen Norbu Lhendup, Keldon Lhamo Gurung, Pem Zam
Genre Drama

A teacher with one year left on his contract is sent to the most remote school in the world. At first, he’s less than thrilled, but in Lunana, a remote village in Bhutan, he begins to understand the importance of his work, and the power of the nation’s philosophy of “gross national happiness.”

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What are critics saying?

Screen Daily by Allan Hunter

The story arc of Lunana may offer few surprises but Dorji handles it with confidence and buckets of charm.

Los Angeles Times by Carlos Aguilar

Opening the doors to a land and people most Westerners know little about, the director crafts a crowd-pleaser in stunning, mostly unseen locations whose charms weather even its most idealistically patriotic and overly saccharine notes.

Wall Street Journal by Joe Morgenstern

The film is a fable, to be sure, and one that unfolds at a leisurely pace, not a tough-minded psychological drama. But it’s sharp-witted as well as soulful, reasonably suspenseful.

The New York Times by Nicolas Rapold

The gently efficient story feels like an attempt to illustrate Bhutan’s real-life “Gross National Happiness” initiative.

Variety by Richard Kuipers

Donji’s screenplay finds an ideal balance of gentle humor and life-affirming drama.