Arun Bhattarai
Arun Bhattarai | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1985 (age 40–41) |
| Alma mater | DocNomads |
| Occupation | Filmmaker |
Arun Bhattarai (born 1985, Thimphu, Bhutan) is a Bhutanese documentary filmmaker. He is known for directing The Next Guardian, Mountain Man, and Agent of Happiness. He is one of the few independent documentary directors working in Bhutan and a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[1]
He has been collaborating with Hungarian filmmaker Dorottya Zurbó since they met while studying at the DocNomads Joint Master’s Program in Europe.[2] He is the founder of production company Sound Pictures.[3]
Career
Bhattarai was born in Thimphu, Bhutan, in 1985. He graduated from the first edition of Docnomads Joint Masters for which he was awarded a full Erasmus Mundus scholarship in Lisbon, Budapest and Brussels in 2014. Bhattarai began his career as a television director for youth documentaries and television programs at the Bhutan Broadcasting Service, where he worked for five years.[4][5]
In 2017, his debut feature film, The Next Guardian, co-directed with Dorottya Zurbó, had its world premiere at International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA).[6][7] The film followed a small Bhutanese family at crossroads due to contrasting dreams of two generations.[8] It screened at numerous film festivals including True/False Film Fest, Zsigmond Vilmos Film Festival, where it won Best Documentary Award, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), and the San Francisco International Film Festival amongst others[9][10][11][12]
In 2019, Bhattarai's upcoming short documentary, Mountain Man, exploring the life of Bhutan’s only glaciologist who is attempting to measure climate change in the Himalayas, won the Best Pitch Prize at the If/Then Global Short Pitch.[13] In November 2021, he received an International Documentary Association (IDA) grant for Mountain Man through its IDA+XRM Media Incubator program.[14] The following month, his one-minute film Snow Lion and The Glaciologis, won Best Documentary at the International Mobile Film Festival in Paris, receiving a production grant to support the editing of Mountain Man.[15] In 2022, he premiered Mountain Man at International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA).[16] In 2023, the film was screened at festivals including Doc Edge,[17] Chicago International Film Festival, where it received a Special Mention,[18] and Doc NYC, where it won the Grand Jury Prize.[19]
In 2024, Bhattarai's second feature film, Agent of Happiness, co-directed with Dorottya Zurbó, premiered in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, marking the first time a Bhutanese film had its world premiere at the festival.[20] The film received support from numerous labs and funding institutions throughout its development and post-production, including the National Film Institute - Hungary, Sundance Institute, Catapult Film Fund, deNovo Initiative, DMZ Docs Fund and dok.incubator INT workshop.[21] Bhattarai described it as the most challenging film he and Zurbó have worked on, noting the complexity of constructing a multicharacter narrative where multiple interconnected stories had to be woven together into a cohesive structure.[22] It screened at numerous film festivals including CPH:DOX, Hot Docs, DocsBarcelona, True/False Film Fest, Seattle International Film Festival, and San Francisco International Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award, amongst others.[23] It was also nominated for the International Documentary Association (IDA) awards.[24]
Jury and mentorship
In 2024, Bhattarai served as a jury member for the Documentary Australia Award at the Sydney Film Festival.[25] He was also part of the Short Competition jury at the Moscow International Documentary Film Festival.[26]
In 2025, he served as a mentor at the inaugural Kathmandu Doc Lab, where he conducted workshops and mentored emerging documentary filmmakers.[27]
Filmography
| Year | Film | Director | Cinematographer | Producer | Writer | Note |
Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | The Next Guardian | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| 2022 | Mountain Man | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Short | |
| 2023 | Silent Walls | No | Yes | No | No | Short | |
| 2025 | Agent of Happiness | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
References
- ↑ "THE ACADEMY INVITES 534 TO MEMBERSHIP". press.oscars.org.
- ↑ ""A Symphony of Echoing Voices": Arun Bhattarai and Dorottya Zurbó on 'Agent of Happiness' | International Documentary Association". www.documentary.org. 20 January 2024.
- ↑ "ARUN BHATTARAI". doker-eng.
- ↑ "First Edition (2012-14)". www.docnomads.eu.
- ↑ Rijal, Abhi. "Conversation with Director Arun Bhattarai". Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival.
- ↑ "Two DocNomads alumni present their co-directed film in IDFA". www.docnomads.eu.
- ↑ "The Next Guardian (2017) | IDFA Archive". IDFA.
- ↑ Gidney, Norman. "The Next Guardian". filmthreat.com.
- ↑ "Films 2018". True/False Film Fest.
- ↑ "The Next Guardian | Zsigmond Vilmos Film Festival". www.zsigmondvilmosfilmfest.com.
- ↑ "MoMA's Doc Fortnight 2019 Sets Full Slate (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. 9 January 2019.
- ↑ "The Next Guardian". SFFILM.
- ↑ "Tribeca Film Institute". www.tfiny.org.
- ↑ "IDA Grants $75,000 to Three Emerging Filmmakers through the IDA+XRM Media Incubator | International Documentary Association". www.documentary.org. 14 May 2024.
- ↑ "One-minute Bhutanese film on climate change wins Best Documentary Award". South Asia Monitor.
- ↑ Cunningham, Nick (28 September 2022). "IDFA unveils first comp titles plus Masters and Best of Fests". Business Doc Europe.
- ↑ "Asian Films". Asia Media Centre | Helping New Zealand media cover Asia.
- ↑ "59th Chicago International Film Festival Announces Award-Winners | Festivals & Awards | Roger Ebert". www.rogerebert.com. 20 October 2023.
- ↑ "Mountain Man". DOC NYC.
- ↑ "IEFTA Alumni Arun Bhattarai selected for World Cinema Documentary Competition for Sundance Festival". IEFTA. 9 December 2023.
- ↑ "PRODUCTION: Arun Bhattarai and Dorottya Zurbó in Postproduction with New Documentary Shot in Bhutan - FilmNewEurope.com". www.filmneweurope.com.
- ↑ Spicer, Lucy (10 May 2024). "Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Arun Bhattarai and Dorottya Zurbó, the Filmmakers Behind "Agent of Happiness" - sundance.org".
- ↑ "Catapult Film Fund - Films - Agent of Happiness". catapultfilmfund.org.
- ↑ "IDA Documentary Awards 2024 Winners and Nominees | International Documentary Association". www.documentary.org.
- ↑ "The winners of the 71st Sydney Film Festival". Sydney Film Festival. 16 June 2024.
- ↑ "DOKer Jury". doker-eng.
- ↑ "Kathmandu DocLab". Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival.