Short Film Project for Lhomon Education Students  

Lhomon Education students made several short educational videos as part of their studies. The film project is a learning opportunity for students to think creatively, to have fun, to act and to work as a team. In doing so, they learn many skills including communication, art, social, creative and critical skills. Through the use of media and technology, complex concepts and subtle Buddhist values can be effectively imparted to students and others. Thus, it becomes a means to practice selfless generosity.

The movie enactment for students is an exhilarating opportunity to experience interdependent reality, and how many causes and condition are necessary to produce a film. It also helps them learn indispensable intangible skills such as empathy and other values. Hence short videos are successful in its objective to offer integrated opportunities for the holistic development of students.

For students and teachers, the entire process of filming—from brainstorming to scripting, storyboarding to location scouting, sound recording to selecting music, and video shooting to video editing—were all enriching experiences that could not be learned and taught within the four walls of the classroom.

Following are three short videos produced by Lhomon Education (LME) teachers and students:

1. The Visitor: a short film ‘‘The Visitor’’ conveys the core message that when we first meet a person, we have to be more open-minded because at first sight we can dangerously misjudge her or him. Acted by Lhomon Education students, the film is based on a traditional story about a drunk, shabbily dressed man, who is judged by his appearance by a group of caretakers. As the story unfolds the caretakers realise that the man is no other than the great master Drukpa Kuenlay (The Divine Madman). Thus, one must not judge a book by its cover.

2. The Buddha and Annanda—Precious Human Life: To explain how rare and precious our human life is Shakyamuni Buddha once used a metaphor, known as “Blind Turtle & Floating Log.” Based on this metaphor a short video was made by Lhomon Education students and teachers. Our aspiration is to share our work with other people in Bhutan and around the world.

3. You are Your Mask’s Boss, Your Mask is not Your Boss: This short film was filmed using masks as the primary costume. The film was an exciting platform for our students to perform and make use of their masks to express certain messages to the viewers.