Tibet/Bhutan, 1999
93 minutes
In Tibetan and Hindi
Director: Khyentse Norbu
Cast: Jamyang Lodro, Orgyen Tobgyal, Neten Chokling, Kunsang Nyima
Executive Producers: Hooman Majd, Jeremy Thomas
Producers: Malcolm Watson, Raymond Steiner
Screenplay: Khyentse Norbu
Cinematographer: Paul Warren
Editor: John Scott
Music: Douglas Mills
Production Company: Palm Pictures / Coffee Stain Productions
International Sales Agent: Hanway Films, London

[1.7 MB] Press Kit for Phörpa - The Cup, including interviews, photos from the filming and biographical backgrounds of the cast and filmmakers. In English and French. If you don't already have it, you'll need to install the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this PDF file.

A surprise hit at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival, this comic tale of soccer-mad young monks obsessed with viewing the World Cup, is the first feature film from Bhutanese lama Khyentse Norbu, and the first from an eminent teacher of Tibetan Buddhism. The Cup takes place at Chokling Monastery, situated in the foothills of the Himalayas over the mountains from Tibet, and stars authentic members of the monastic community, all non-actors, all playing characters like themselves.

Based on a true story, The Cup takes a refreshing, humorous and sometimes poignant look at Tibetan refugee life through the experience of the young monks and their teachers. Most of the boys have escaped from Tibet, sent to India by their parents at great risk and expense in order to receive a precious dharma education in a place safe from the Chinese. But religion isn’t always the main thing on their minds... When Geko, their supervisor, catches and forbids the monks from sneaking into the village to watch soccer, the cheeky and enterprising young Orgyen must devise a new plan and find a way to bring the World Cup to the monastery. But there’s an obstacle - to get the TV and satellite dish, Orgyen needs money.

Director Norbu has educated himself in film by studying great masters, by assisting Bernardo Bertolucci on Little Buddha and by making several shorts. But he’s better known under his religious title, as Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, the eminent teacher and practitioner of the non-sectarian tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, and the recognized incarnation of a great 19th century Buddhist saint. Given his cinematic resourcefulness and spiritual heritage, it’s no surprise that Elle Magazine says of The Cup, “Thanks to the convincing performances Norbu extracted from a cast of nonprofessionals, the result is truly enlightening.”

• Movie trailers for The Cup (Quicktime / RealVideo / Windows Media / Flash 4 high speed / Flash 4 low speed)
• Now released by New Line Home Video and available in VHS format at video rental and sales outlets.
• Interview with Director Khyentse Norbu in the March 1999 Gentle Voice Newsletter.
• Interview with Producer Raymond Steiner in the September 1999 Gentle Voice Newsletter.
• Fine Line Productions' promotional web site for Phörpa.
• Life as Cinema, the Jalalandra Pictures documentary-in-progress on the making of Phörpa.
• A very special thank you to Soccer.com and the Eurosport Passback Program for their coverage of Phörpa and for donating soccer gear to the monks of Chokling Monastery where Phörpa was filmed.
• Visit the real-life monastery and refugee children that inspired Khyentse Norbu's film.

TBA

9 - 18 Sep 1999

Acadamy Awards
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
United States