DIRECTOR: Dechen Roder
STARRING: Tandin Bidha, Jimmie Wangyal, Tshering Dorji, Sonam Lhamo
RUNNING TIME: 1 hr 52 minutes
LANGUAGE: Dzongkha, English
PLOT: In Bhutan, a close-knit nation of just 700,000 people, news travels fast, and secrets even faster. When an explicit video of a woman who looks exactly like her circulates online, schoolteacher Nima finds her world upended. To calm her students’ furious parents and clear her name, she sets out to find her mysterious double, Meto, who has vanished without a trace. But as villagers begin to suspect that Nima is Meto’s restless ghost, ancient beliefs and modern shame intertwine. Urged by the elders to sing Aum Tshomo’s sacred song, Nima must confront her reflection, open her heart, and reclaim the life that scandal nearly stole.
GENRE: Drama
FILMING LOCATION: Gelephu, Bhutan
To check out all previous submissions for Bhutan, click HERE.
STARRING: Tandin Bidha, Jimmie Wangyal, Tshering Dorji, Sonam Lhamo
RUNNING TIME: 1 hr 52 minutes
LANGUAGE: Dzongkha, English
PLOT: In Bhutan, a close-knit nation of just 700,000 people, news travels fast, and secrets even faster. When an explicit video of a woman who looks exactly like her circulates online, schoolteacher Nima finds her world upended. To calm her students’ furious parents and clear her name, she sets out to find her mysterious double, Meto, who has vanished without a trace. But as villagers begin to suspect that Nima is Meto’s restless ghost, ancient beliefs and modern shame intertwine. Urged by the elders to sing Aum Tshomo’s sacred song, Nima must confront her reflection, open her heart, and reclaim the life that scandal nearly stole.
GENRE: Drama
FILMING LOCATION: Gelephu, Bhutan
To check out all previous submissions for Bhutan, click HERE.
FILM REVIEW:
(This review contains spoilers.)
“I need to find her to get my life back."
Dechen Roder’s I, the Song is a haunting and poetic exploration of identity, faith, and the collision between tradition and modernity in contemporary Bhutan. Set against the country’s serene yet isolating landscapes, the film follows Nima, a quiet schoolteacher whose life spirals into chaos when an explicit video of a woman who looks exactly like her spreads online. What begins as a mystery of mistaken identity gradually deepens into an emotional and spiritual journey, one that examines how personal reputation, collective morality, and folklore intertwine in a society where everyone knows everyone. Roder uses this premise not for sensationalism, but to reveal the fragility of selfhood when it is filtered through the gaze of others.
The film is breathtaking. Roder embraces Bhutan’s natural palette, misty mountains, muted greens, and sunlit prayer flags, to contrast the calm beauty of the environment with the inner turmoil of its protagonist. Each frame carries a painterly stillness that reflects Nima’s emotional paralysis, while the recurring use of mirrors, windows, and reflections underscores her disorientation. Sound plays a crucial role, too; the sacred song of Aum Tshomo becomes both a haunting motif and a bridge between the rational and the mystical. Through this careful interplay of image and sound, Roder crafts a tone that feels both grounded and otherworldly, a blend of realism and folklore that lingers long after the credits.
I, the Song resists easy resolution. Roder layers her story with social commentary, on gender, digital shame, and the claustrophobia of small communities, while maintaining a delicate sense of empathy. Nima’s search for her doppelganger, Meto, unfolds less as a thriller and more as a meditation on the ways women are seen and judged. The villagers’ belief that Nima might be a ghost of her double reveals how superstition and misogyny still shape collective responses to female transgression. Yet Roder treats even her most misguided characters with compassion, emphasizing the human longing for purity, redemption, and belonging.
I, the Song is about reclaiming one’s voice in the aftermath of violation be it social, emotional, or physical. Beneath its mystery lies a plea for courage: to face trauma, to confront injustice, and to stand for what is right even when silence feels safer. Through Nima’s journey, Roder reminds us that healing begins not in denial, but in the quiet act of singing one’s truth, a defiant, resilient song that transforms pain into strength.
(This review contains spoilers.)
“I need to find her to get my life back."
Dechen Roder’s I, the Song is a haunting and poetic exploration of identity, faith, and the collision between tradition and modernity in contemporary Bhutan. Set against the country’s serene yet isolating landscapes, the film follows Nima, a quiet schoolteacher whose life spirals into chaos when an explicit video of a woman who looks exactly like her spreads online. What begins as a mystery of mistaken identity gradually deepens into an emotional and spiritual journey, one that examines how personal reputation, collective morality, and folklore intertwine in a society where everyone knows everyone. Roder uses this premise not for sensationalism, but to reveal the fragility of selfhood when it is filtered through the gaze of others.
The film is breathtaking. Roder embraces Bhutan’s natural palette, misty mountains, muted greens, and sunlit prayer flags, to contrast the calm beauty of the environment with the inner turmoil of its protagonist. Each frame carries a painterly stillness that reflects Nima’s emotional paralysis, while the recurring use of mirrors, windows, and reflections underscores her disorientation. Sound plays a crucial role, too; the sacred song of Aum Tshomo becomes both a haunting motif and a bridge between the rational and the mystical. Through this careful interplay of image and sound, Roder crafts a tone that feels both grounded and otherworldly, a blend of realism and folklore that lingers long after the credits.
I, the Song resists easy resolution. Roder layers her story with social commentary, on gender, digital shame, and the claustrophobia of small communities, while maintaining a delicate sense of empathy. Nima’s search for her doppelganger, Meto, unfolds less as a thriller and more as a meditation on the ways women are seen and judged. The villagers’ belief that Nima might be a ghost of her double reveals how superstition and misogyny still shape collective responses to female transgression. Yet Roder treats even her most misguided characters with compassion, emphasizing the human longing for purity, redemption, and belonging.
I, the Song is about reclaiming one’s voice in the aftermath of violation be it social, emotional, or physical. Beneath its mystery lies a plea for courage: to face trauma, to confront injustice, and to stand for what is right even when silence feels safer. Through Nima’s journey, Roder reminds us that healing begins not in denial, but in the quiet act of singing one’s truth, a defiant, resilient song that transforms pain into strength.
