Sherab Dorji (actor)

Sherab Dorji is a Bhutanese actor, musician, and self-taught filmmaker best known for his lead role as Ugyen Dorji in Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom (2019), a drama directed by Pawo Choyning Dorji that became Bhutan's first film to receive a nomination for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. The nomination, announced in February 2022 for the 94th Academy Awards, brought unprecedented international attention to Bhutanese cinema and to Dorji himself, a first-time actor who had been discovered singing in an Asheville-style bar in Thimphu.^[1]

Before being cast in the film, Dorji had no acting experience. He was a musician who performed in bars while waiting for a visa to travel to Australia to pursue a music career. Director Pawo Choyning Dorji discovered him by chance and cast him in the lead role, recognising in Dorji the restless, aspiring quality that the character of Ugyen required. The decision proved inspired: Dorji's naturalistic performance anchored the film and earned him the Best Actor award at the Festival International du Film de Saint-Jean-de-Luz in France.^[2]

Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom

Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom tells the story of Ugyen Dorji, a young Bhutanese teacher who dreams of emigrating to Australia to become a singer. As a reprimand for shirking his duties, his superiors send him to Lunana, a remote village at an altitude of approximately 4,800 metres in the Gasa district, which hosts one of the most isolated schools in the world. Over the course of a year, Ugyen is transformed by his encounters with the village's children, the harsh but beautiful landscape, and a yak named Norbu that the students consider essential to their classroom.^[3]

The film was shot on location in Lunana with a minimal crew that had to trek for several days to reach the village. The production used solar panels to charge equipment and worked with actual residents of Lunana, most of whom had never seen a film before. The cast, apart from Dorji and a few others, consisted entirely of non-professional actors drawn from the local community.^[4]

Critical Reception and Awards

The film premiered at the London Film Festival in 2019 and subsequently screened at festivals worldwide. It received overwhelmingly positive reviews, with critics praising its sincerity, visual beauty, and the authenticity of its performances. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a near-perfect approval rating. At the Festival International du Film de Saint-Jean-de-Luz, the film won the Prix du Public (Audience Award), and Dorji received the Best Actor award for his portrayal of Ugyen.^[5]

The film's nomination for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards in March 2022 was a historic moment for Bhutanese cinema. Although it did not win the award, the nomination placed Bhutan on the global cinematic map and generated significant international interest in the country's nascent film industry.^[6]

Performance and Discovery

Dorji's casting was serendipitous. Director Pawo Choyning Dorji found him performing music in a bar in Thimphu and recognised that Dorji's own situation — a young man dreaming of leaving Bhutan for Australia to pursue his artistic ambitions — mirrored the character of Ugyen so closely that the line between actor and role became blurred. In interviews, Dorji has spoken candidly about the parallels between his own life and the story he was portraying.^[7]

Filming in Lunana presented significant challenges. The remote location required days of trekking, and the conditions at nearly 5,000 metres were harsh. Working with children and animals added further unpredictability. Dorji has recounted with humour that while the child actors were manageable, the yak Norbu once delivered "quite a powerful kick to my pelvis," which he described as a memorable moment from the production.^[8]

Other Work

Following the success of Lunana, Dorji has continued to work in the Bhutanese creative industries. He appeared in Aum Penjor (2024), his second film role. Beyond acting, Dorji is a singer and music producer, and a self-taught amateur cinematographer, photographer, and 3D designer. His multidisciplinary creative practice reflects the emerging generation of Bhutanese artists who move fluidly between traditional and contemporary, local and global modes of expression.^[9]

Dorji has been a featured speaker at the Bhutan Echoes literary and cultural festival, where he has discussed his experience as a first-time actor, the impact of the Oscar nomination on his life and career, and the potential for cinema to tell authentically Bhutanese stories to a global audience.^[10]

References

1. "Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom." Wikipedia.
2. "Lunana: A Yak In The Classroom: Pawo Choyning Dorji & Sherab Dorji Interview." Deadline, March 2022.
3. "Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom." Wikipedia.
4. "The Story Behind Bhutan’s First Ever Oscar Nominee." NPR, 25 March 2022.
5. "Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom." Rotten Tomatoes.
6. "How Bhutan’s Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom Landed Oscar Nomination." IndieWire.
7. "Lunana Interview." Deadline, 2022.
8. "Lunana Interview." Deadline, 2022.
9. "Sherab Dorji." IMDb.
10. "Sherab Dorji." Bhutan Echoes.