The Cup (1999 film)

The Cup (Phörpa) is a 1999 Tibetan-language film directed by Khyentse Norbu. The plot involves two young football-crazed Tibetan refugee novice monks in a remote Himalayan monastery in India who desperately try to obtain a television for the monastery to watch the 1998 World Cup final.

Contents

• The cup by khyentse norbu official trailer
• Release
• References

The movie was shot in the Tibetan refugee village Bir in India (Himachal Pradesh) (almost entirely between Chokling Gompa and Elu Road).

Producer Jeremy Thomas had developed a relationship with Norbu when he was an advisor on Bertolucci's Little Buddha. Thomas later remembered his experience making the film:

The director Khyentse Norbu is a Tibetan Lama who went to NYC film school, who wanted to make a movie, and I had become friendly with him. There was this charming story, which was a teaching for him but a story for everyone else, about little monks and the World Cup. It was shown in Director’s Fortnight at Cannes, and we brought a lot of the Tibetans to the screening and it was well received and sold all over the world. It was a very happy story for everybody involved.

Release

The Cup was released to DVD on November 13, 2007 in North America by Festival Media (IBFF). The DVD was mastered from a new direct-to-digital transfer from the original film, and includes a bonus documentary entitled Inside The Cup, featuring the director discussing the film, cinema in general and Buddhist philosophy, along with outtakes from the film. There is also a director's commentary audio track.