InstituteFestivalProfessionals
EN/NL
Donate
Loading...
MyIDFA
Sing Me a Song
About IDFA
Archive
Sing Me a Song
IDFA 2019

Sing Me a Song

Thomas Balmès
France, Germany, Switzerland
2019
95 min
European Premiere
Festival history

In his earlier film Happiness, French director Thomas Balmès followed the life of Peyangki, a young monk in Bhutan. Then eight years old, Peyangki was waiting expectantly in his remote mountain village for the arrival of electricity, which would bring something the whole village was looking forward to: TV. A decade later, there's a new innovation: the internet.

In Sing Me a Song, the director returns to visit Peyangki. He’s now 17 and still a monk, and just like all his friends at the monastery, he and his cell phone are inseparable. Even during prayers they're all continually using the phone. Peyangki has found a girlfriend on WeChat who lives in Thimphu, the capital city. He’s considering leaving the monastery, but online love has its downsides, too.

Like in Happiness, Balmès shows how TV and internet are changing the world. Until quite recently Bhutan was largely unaffected by the temptations of developments in the outside world, but now they keep coming at lightning speed. This calm portrait of Peyangki and his girlfriend Ugyen is a bittersweet look at screen addiction and the decline of traditions.

Credits
Director
Co-production
    Zero One Film GmbH,
    Close Up Films
    Zero One Film GmbH,
    Close Up Films
Sound
Music
    Nicolas Rabaeus
    Nicolas Rabaeus
Involved TV Channel
    Arte France Cinéma,
    RTS - Radio Television Suisse
    Arte France Cinéma,
    RTS - Radio Television Suisse
World Sales
    Dogwoof
    Dogwoof
Screening copy
    Dogwoof
    Dogwoof

Images

0