Summer Cinema: Phörpa

“Buddhism is their philosophy. Soccer is their religion.”

Watching soccer or studying the teachings of Buddha? This Bhutanese sports comedy captures the clash of two worlds.
Two young Tibetan refugees arrive at a monastery and boarding school in India. Instead of peaceful contemplation, however, they are unexpectedly swept up in soccer fever, which has spread all the way from France to this remote place. The main instigator of the soccer revolution is a young student named Orgyen. Since various circumstances prevent him from watching the championship final on TV in a nearby village, Orgyen decides to arrange for the monastery to rent a television. This endeavour becomes a test of solidarity, resourcefulness, and friendship for the students, while the lama, the monastery’s abbot, reflects on the challenges of spreading Buddha’s teachings in a rapidly changing world.

Phörpa
Director: Khyentse Norbu
Bhutan / Australia, 1999, 93 min.
free entry
in the original language with English subtitles

The summer cinema returns to MeetFactory for the fourteenth time. We’ll be screening eleven films in the courtyard, selected by members of the MeetFactory team. In June and July screenings begin at 9:30 p.m.; in August and September at 8:30 p.m.
Before the screening, you can visit the current exhibitions in the MeetFactory Gallery and the Kostka Gallery free of charge.
A bar is available on site, and admission to all screenings is free. More general info at our website.