The inaugural World Culture Film Festival kicks off in Los Angeles Thursday, a four-day event “dedicated to showcasing films that inspire, educate, and celebrate diverse cultures.” WCFF opens with Oscar-shortlisted dramedy The Monk and the Gun, directed by Pawo Choyning Dorji.
The Bhutanese filmmaker — whose Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom earned a 2022 Academy Award nomination for Best International Film — will be present for a Q&A to follow The Monk and the Gun screening.
The festival culminates Saturday with Wim Wenders’ Oscar-nominated Perfect Days, a drama about Hirayama (Koji Yakusho), a man who cleans Tokyo’s public toilets, which are renowned for their immaculate appearance. “Hirayama clearly derives enjoyment from performing his work well,” the New York Times wrote in a rave review, “but there’s more to his life than labor, and more to this movie than a simplistic celebration of manual toil.” The WCFF program includes more than 60 films, originating from North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
The festival, inspired by the peaceful message of spiritual leader and humanitarian Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, “promises entertainment that uplifts, bringing stories from every part of the world that elevate human consciousness through the art of cinema,” according to a release.
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