Ugyen Wangdi

A documentary about Bhutan's last postal runner made by Bhutan's first filmmaker. 49 year old Ugyen Tenzin is the last postal runner of Bhutan. He has been working for the Post for 26 years ago. He must walk by foot, by himself, for about a week, through the mountains of Bhutan to deliver the mail to Lingshi, a high mountain village (at 12,000 ft). The documentary follows him and the treacherous albeit beautiful journey, in both the winter and summer seasons, and was shot over three years. A documentary by Bhutan’s last postal runner by Bhutan’s first filmmaker.

A documentary about Bhutan's last postal runner made by Bhutan's first filmmaker. 49 year old Ugyen Tenzin is the last postal runner of Bhutan. He has been working for the Post for 26 years ago. He must walk by foot, by himself, for about a week, through the mountains of Bhutan to deliver the mail to Lingshi, a high mountain village (at 12,000 ft). The documentary follows him and the treacherous albeit beautiful journey, in both the winter and summer seasons, and was shot over three years. A documentary by Bhutan’s last postal runner by Bhutan’s first filmmaker.

Made by Bhutan's first filmmaker (Ugyen Wangdi), Price of Knowledge (1999) is also Bhutan's first documentary. Day by day, 11 year old Sherab Dorji walks three hours to school. In the early morning he meets the other children of his village at a chorten, a Buddhist shrine. From there, they walk to school together singing. The road leads across a mountain and through the woods. The parents are constantly afraid of their children meeting up with wild animals along the path. When Sherab walks the last part by himself in the evening, he prays aloud to fight his fear. They walk so much, his father says, that their socks tear within a week. Sherab’s family depends on subsistence farming. Sherab and his family’s life are presented in a touching realistic portrait of rural Bhutan in 1999.

A tragic love story reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet, set in 18th century Bhutan.