A Song for the Snow Lion (in person: Pawo Choyning Dorji, hosted by Pico Iyer)

 

Pawo Choyning Dorji: A Song for the Snow Lion (BT/US 2026) with Yo-Yo Ma.

Telluride Film Festival (TFF) 2026

Viewed at Le Pierre, 5 Sep 2026

TFF 2026 Program Guide:

L/Sat 6:15PM Q&A - TP/Sun 8:45 

36 A Song for the Snow Lion 

TFF: "Among the most tangible climate disasters on the planet are the melting of Bhutan’s glaciers, which provide fresh water for more than 1.5 billion people—20% of the planet. The glaciers and their surrounding Himalayan peaks also serve as the spiritual center for the Bhutanese people, who look to the Snow Lion, the protector of the mountains, for meaning and inspiration. The folk singer Kelden Lhamo Gurung and famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma send offerings to the spirits of the mountains in this moving, thoughtful and exquisitely photographed short film by Pawo Choyning Dorji, who brought the Oscar-nominated THE MONK AND THE GUN to the Festival in 2023. His film asks us to consider all that we endanger as we forcefully alter the natural order." –TFF (Bhutan/U.S., 2026, 20m)

In person: Pawo Choyning Dorji

AA: Pawo Choyning Dorji promotes a spiritual awakening in A Song for the Snow Lion. We are still reeling from the images of 26 August 2026 of the Nepal flash floods due to the glacier collapse, images surpassing what we have seen in the history of catastrophe movies.

A probably much more extreme catastrophe is in the making in the Bhutan glaciers which provide fresh water for 20% of the population of the Earth. We know this but remain in denial and paralysis and escape to the virtual world of our mobile devices.

Within a single lifetime the glaciers may vanish entirely.

Pawo Choyning Dorji, teaming with maestro Yo-Yo Ma, wants to awaken our spirits with art. The ancient story of the Snow Lion is the anchor. To tell a story is to untie a knot. The Bhutanese wisdom is that we are at one with nature. Happiness is rooted in interdependence. In Bhutan, mountains are not conquered. If we try that, they conquer us. When glaciers melt, the Snow Lion dies, and we with it. 

In Bhutan, everything is very symbolic. We must slow down and return to a human pace. Care for the world.

In a movie like this, the message is everything. It could not be greater.