I, The Song

Dechen Wangmo Roder / Features / Bhutan / Dzongkha / 01:43:00 / 2024

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. Unconvinced, Nima starts to dig around through close encounters with Meto’s most intimate friends and lovers.

Cast and Crew  

Producer: Dechen Roder, Johann Chapelan
Director: Dechen Roder
Scriptwriter: Dechen Roder
DoP: Rangoli Agarwal
Production Designer: Pem Lham
Editor: Dechen Roder. Noemie Azul Loeve, 
Cast: Tandin Bidha, Jimmy Wangyal Tshering, Tshering Dorji, Sonam Lhamo, Dorji Wangdi

Directors’ bio:

Dechen Roder, one of Bhutan’s few female filmmakers, founded Dakinny Productions in 2009. Her short Lo Sum Choe Sum (2015) competed at Berlinale Shorts and other festivals. Her debut feature Honeygiver Among the Dogs (Busan 2017, Berlinale 2017) won three awards at Fribourg and became the first Bhutanese film nominated for an Asian Pacific Screen Award. In 2011 she co-founded the first film festival in Bhutan-Beskop Tshechu. I, The Song is her second feature, it won Best Director at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival Critic’s Picks Competition, and 8 National Film Awards and is Bhutan’s official entry to the 98th Academy Awards

Participation in other Festivals:

  • Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2024, Estonia
  • WINNER Best Director Award, Critic’s Picks Competition
  • Bhutan National Film Awards, Bhutan (2025)
  • WINNER: Best Film, Best Screenplay, Best Directing, Best Editing , Best Production
  • Design
  • Best Original Music Score, Best Male Actor, Best Female Actor
  • Osaka Asian Film Festival 2025, Japan Nominated for Best Film
  • WINNER OF “Yakushi Pearl Award” for Best Actor
  • International Film Festival Goa (IFFI-Goa) 2024, India Official Selection
  • Ajanta-Ellora International Film Festival 2024, India Official Selection
  • Vesoul Asian Film Festival 2025, France Nominated for Best Film
  • Fribourg International Film Festival 2025, Switzerland Nominated for Best Film
  • Bengaluru International Film Festival 2025, India Nominated for Best Film in Asian Cinema Competition
  • Minneapolis-St.Paul International Film Festival 2025, USA Official Selection
  • Taipei Film Festival 2025, Taiwan Official Section, New Southbound Vision
  • New Horizons International Film Festival 2025, Poland Official Selection
  • New York Asian Film Festival 2025, USA Official Selection
  • GemArts Film Festival 2025, UK Official Selection
  • Jecheon International Music and Film Festival 2025, South Korea Official Sélection
  • Thrissur International Film Festival 2025, India Asian Competition
  • Tasveer South Asian Film Festival 2025, India Centerpiece film
  • Dharamshala International Film Festival 2025, India Official Selection
  • Hong Kong Asian Film Festival 2025, Hong Kong Official Selection
  • Ngilngig Asian Fantastic Film Festival 2025, Philippines Feature Special
  • Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival 2025, Indonesia Official Selection
  • Asian World Film Festival 2025, Los Angeles, USA Official Selection