Join us a screening of The Monk and the Gun followed by a presentation with local filmmaker Karen Mintz.
Karen Mintz will join us for a post screening presentation of a documentary in progress, Gift of the Dragon King, filmed on location in Bhutan. For five months in 2007/08, Karen traveled through Bhutan to film the kingdom’s first election and document its transition from monarchy to democracy. She focused on a wide spectrum of subjects including a Buddhist monk, a television reporter, a farmer, a psychiatrist (the country’s first!) and the former tutor to the King (a British schoolmaster who arrived in the 1970s – one of the first Westerners to live in Bhutan). She will be sharing some footage and stories from the remote Himalayan country best known for its policy of measuring progress with the “Gross National Happiness” index.
About the film: The Monk and the Gun: Surrounding its poignant insights with a gentle layer of crowd-pleasing comedy, The Monk and the Gun is a timely political satire that underscores the fragility of democracy. Known throughout the world for its extraordinary beauty and its emphasis on Gross National Happiness, the remote Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan was the last nation to connect to the internet and television. And if that weren't enough change, the King announced shortly afterwards that he would cede his power to the people via their vote and a new form of government: Democracy.
Rated NR, 1h47m.