Honeygiver Among the Dogs

They say she’s incredibly beautiful and a real female demon. The things that Kinley, a cop, hears about the mysterious Choden who is the subject of his investigations are making him very curious. His boss has sent him to the Bhutanese district of Bumthang to look into the disappearance of a religious leader. In the eyes of the narrow-minded locals, newcomer Choden has long been a prime suspect. Armed with his mobile phone and his stoic disbelief in all the spiritual claptrap going on around him, Kinley meets her on a bus. But it’s not this deliberately sober undercover cop who approaches her, but she who speaks to him - and promptly throws him completely off balance with all her metaphors about goddesses and animals. The twangs of a Jew’s harp set the pace for Bhutan’s first film noir, the ingredients of which – a strange woman and an investigator increasingly plagued by doubt – are given a jolly good stir by Bhutanese director Dechen Roder in her first feature-length film. The resulting work is a blend of tradition and modernity, religion and rational thought; an idiosyncratic, feminist interpretation of a genre – and not just because Bhutanese men wear skirts and knee-high socks.
by Dechen Roder
with Jamyang Jamtsho Wangchuk, Sonam Tashi Choden, Kunga T. Dorji, Cencho Dorji, Deki Yangchen
Bhutan 2016 Dzongkha 132’ Colour

With

  • Jamyang Jamtsho Wangchuk (Kinley)
  • Sonam Tashi Choden (Choden)
  • Kunga T. Dorji (Chief Wangdi)
  • Cencho Dorji (Norbu)
  • Deki Yangchen (Jampa)

Crew

Written and Directed by Dechen Roder
Cinematography Jigme T. Tenzing
Editing Dechen Roder
Music Tashi Dorji
Sound Design Warren Santiago
Sound Mickey Macachor
Production Design Karma Tenzin
Costumes Kesang Anayat, Karma Tshering Wangchuk
Assistant Director Sonam Tshering
Production Manager Pema Lhamo Tamang
Producer Dechen Roder
Co-Producers Esther Koo
Co-Production Meridian Entertainment Hong Kong

World sales

Premium Films

Produced by

Dakinny Productions

Dechen Roder

Born in Bumthang, Bhutan in 1980, she has been directing short films and documentaries since 2004, most of which have screened on national television in Bhutan. Her short films have screened at festivals including in Bhutan, Hong Kong, India and Japan. She is co-founder of Bhutan’s first documentary and short film festival Beskop Tshechu. She first presented her work at the Berlinale in 2015 with her short film Lo Sum Choe Sum (3 Year 3 Month Retreat).

Filmography (short films)

2011 Original Photocopy of Happiness 2013 Heart in the Mandala 2015 Lo Sum Choe Sum (3 Year 3 Month Retreat); IFB Berlinale Shorts 2016 Honeygiver Among the Dogs

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2017