I, the Song
Bhutan
Dechen Roder
Nima, a schoolteacher in the capital, is accused of being in a non-consensual pornographic video and is fired from her job. In a desperate attempt to prove her innocence, she travels to a town in the south of Bhutan in search of her lookalike seen in the video.
Once in the dilapidated town, she is told that her doppelganger, Meto, skipped town and emigrated to the USA. Unconvinced, Nima starts to dig around through close encounters with Meto’s most intimate friends; including her former boyfriend, Tandin, a musician; her best friend, Chuni, who worked with her in a printing factory; and Phuntsho, her former employer.
A visit to Meto’s home village and family only confuses Nima further, since the brother is convinced Meto is still in Bhutan, while her grandmother is waiting for Meto’s return from the city, after attempting to recover a sacred song which was stolen by ‘city people.’
As Nima begins to unravel the fragments of Meto’s life and relationships, she finds herself dangerously entangled in a web of uncertainty and insecurity. But, as her anger towards Meto transforms into concern, she realizes that she may be the only person who can find both the answer to Meto’s disappearance and ‘recover’ the stolen song.
Moving between Nima’s search and Meto’s life, I, the Song is a film about exploitation, music, identity, love, and a culture balanced precariously on the threshold of a reckless digital age.
Once in the dilapidated town, she is told that her doppelganger, Meto, skipped town and emigrated to the USA. Unconvinced, Nima starts to dig around through close encounters with Meto’s most intimate friends; including her former boyfriend, Tandin, a musician; her best friend, Chuni, who worked with her in a printing factory; and Phuntsho, her former employer.
A visit to Meto’s home village and family only confuses Nima further, since the brother is convinced Meto is still in Bhutan, while her grandmother is waiting for Meto’s return from the city, after attempting to recover a sacred song which was stolen by ‘city people.’
As Nima begins to unravel the fragments of Meto’s life and relationships, she finds herself dangerously entangled in a web of uncertainty and insecurity. But, as her anger towards Meto transforms into concern, she realizes that she may be the only person who can find both the answer to Meto’s disappearance and ‘recover’ the stolen song.
Moving between Nima’s search and Meto’s life, I, the Song is a film about exploitation, music, identity, love, and a culture balanced precariously on the threshold of a reckless digital age.