ARROWS OF THE THUNDER DRAGON | Q&A SCREENINGS
Former Buddhist monk-turned-filmmaker, Greg Sneddon will present his powerful debut feature film, “Arrows of the Thunder Dragon” at special event screenings in cinemas around Australia from April 29 through to May 7.
Each screening will be followed by a Q&A session with the Melbourne-based director, who also wrote the screenplay and composed the score. He will be joined by the film’s lead female actor, Tshering Zangmo (aka “Ketii”) who is travelling to Australia from her home in a faraway village in Bhutan.
Set in the 1980s, the story of “Arrows of the Thunder Dragon” follows brother and sister Kuenphen and Jamyang, where in a remote Bhutanese village, they learn traditional archery (the national sport of Bhutan) from their old warrior grandfather.
Their mother’s sudden illness gives Kuenphen the opportunity to explore the world outside the village, while sister Jamyang must stay home to weave, cook and prepare for marriage.
Filmed entirely on location in the magnificent Himalaya mountains, the actors are made up of local highland village people.
The 'ordinary' current traditional medieval life in tiny isolated Bhutan is fascinating and anything but ordinary from a modern western point of view.
Arrows of the Thunder Dragon pays homage to the Bhutanese Olympic Archery Team, and was inspired by the lives of local Olympic women’s archery heroes, Sherab Zam and Tshering Chhoden.
“Ketii” arrives in Australia on April 22, the date chosen by her local village astrologer, who also governed the shooting dates for “Arrows of the Thunder Dragon”.
In Sydney, Greg and Ketii will be joined by cinematographer Leki Dorji, who worked as the official Royal photographer in Bhutan.
Greg Sneddon intends to return to Bhutan and conduct master classes for local budding filmmakers.
(Rated PG. 91 minutes. Language - Dzongka with English subtitles and English narration.)
Feedback/Comments
Fascinating film
Great follow-up with the Q & A. A unique film.
didn't get to see but heard it was brilliant cinemascope ...
thank u
very interesting film. A good night out. good the hear about Bhutan as I didn't really know anything about there culture.
Beautiful scenery, well filmed.
Didn't really understand the intent of this film which seemed confused.
Great insight into the culture of Bhutan. Enjoyed the scenery very much too! It's a beautiful country!
I'm sure that the film maker had the best of intentions but I feel that the resulting movie lacked clarity, direction and execution. It was interesting to get a glimpse of the Bhutanese lifestyle but, apart from that, there were not a lot of positives.
Many thanks to filmmaker, Greg Sneddon, for taking the time, interest and money to share this wonderful cultural experience with us. This movie offers a unique insight to the everyday life and religion of Bhutan and lead actress, Ketii, does a remarkable job in sharing this experience with the audience. It is an enormous and gutsy task for someone from a faraway village to front up to Q & A, in another language, in a big city and Ketii did an amazing job in sucessfully answering a variety of good questions from a curious and very interested audience.
A bit slow in the beginning, but better as it went through. Did appreciate the Q&A sessions.
A really interesting snapshot of life in a country about which I know very little. The question and answer session really capped off an interesting evening.
Very interesting and valuable insight from having the producer and a cast member present for Q&A.
Fascinating, to see how people live and their culture in remote villages of Bhutan. Found the film to be a little disjointed and slow in the beginning but overall enlightening
A fascinating film, with an interesting Q and A providing an insight into the how and why this rare film was produced.
fascinating story