Director Pawo Choyning Dorji, Cellist Yo-Yo Ma Team On ‘A Song For The Snow Lion’ Set In Himalayas Of Bhutan – Telluride Film Festival
News Source
•Mon, 07 Sep 2026 19:45:24 +0000
📰 What Happened
A Song for the Snow Lion is a new film set in the mountains of Bhutan. Director Pawo Choyning Dorji made it with world-famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Bhutanese folk singer and actress Kelden Lhamo also stars in it.
The film played at the Telluride Film Festival. Its backdrop is the melting glaciers of the Himalayas. Melted glaciers turn into lakes that can burst and flood whole valleys.
That danger is not imaginary. Floods in Nepal in late August killed more than 1,300 people. A chunk of glacier fell into a lake and sent a tsunami-like wave through the valley.
🔍 The Backstory
Bhutan is a small kingdom tucked high in the Himalayas. Its glaciers feed rivers that millions of people depend on. Climate change is melting them into unstable lakes.
Dorji remembers a glacier lake that burst in the early 1990s. It killed hundreds of Bhutanese people. The valley was so remote that no one filmed it, and the story stayed silent.
Glacial floods are a rising worry across the whole Himalayan region. Scientists say warming makes these disasters more likely. Films like this one help the world pay attention.
🎯 Why It Matters
Melting glaciers threaten millions of people living below the Himalayas. This film turns a faraway danger into a story people can feel, which may push communities to act.
A Song for the Snow Lion is a new film set in the mountains of Bhutan. Director Pawo Choyning Dorji made it with world-famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Bhutanese folk singer and actress Kelden Lhamo also stars in it.
The film played at the Telluride Film Festival. Its backdrop is the melting glaciers of the Himalayas. Melted glaciers turn into lakes that can burst and flood whole valleys.
That danger is not imaginary. Floods in Nepal in late August killed more than 1,300 people. A chunk of glacier fell into a lake and sent a tsunami-like wave through the valley.
Bhutan is a small kingdom tucked high in the Himalayas. Its glaciers feed rivers that millions of people depend on. Climate change is melting them into unstable lakes.
Dorji remembers a glacier lake that burst in the early 1990s. It killed hundreds of Bhutanese people. The valley was so remote that no one filmed it, and the story stayed silent.
Glacial floods are a rising worry across the whole Himalayan region. Scientists say warming makes these disasters more likely. Films like this one help the world pay attention.
Melting glaciers threaten millions of people living below the Himalayas. This film turns a faraway danger into a story people can feel, which may push communities to act.