Film
Sing Me a Song
- Drama
- Light-hearted
Thomas Balmès follows a young Buddhist monk in Bhutan as the internet arrives in his village for the first time. It's a quiet, patient film about technology, tradition, and selfhood—shot with unhurried grace and genuine affection for its subject. For anyone curious about how the world changes when connection arrives, or just wanting to sit with someone's genuine struggle and joy.
If you liked this
The Act of Killing2012
Werner Herzog's radical documentary about a regime's mass murders, told through the perpetrators' own recreations. Morally gripping, structurally ingenious, and devastatingly human in its approach to darkness.
But At over two hours, it demands emotional stamina. The subject matter is atrocity, and the film doesn't soften it.
Jiro Dreams of Sushi2011
A meditation on mastery, age, and the pursuit of perfection through the life of an elderly Tokyo sushi chef. Gorgeously shot, deeply contemplative, and oddly moving about dedication and meaning.
But If you want plot or drama, this isn't it. It's slow, almost static, and entirely about watching someone think.
Pumzi2009
A Kenyan sci-fi short about climate catastrophe and memory, told with stunning visual imagination on a micro-budget. It's a time-capsule of African futurism and raises urgent questions with style and restraint.
But At 20 minutes, it's brief—more a crystalline thought than a full meal. The post-apocalyptic setting is bleak.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Sing Me a Song
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Searching for Sugar Man2012
Both films follow a real person's gradual encounter with the outside world, whether through the internet or sudden fame. Both find profound human truth in the gap between how someone sees themselves and how they're seen.
A detective story about a forgotten 1970s singer who became a legend in South Africa without knowing it. It has the narrative momentum of a thriller, but driven by genuine mystery and emotional revelation instead of plot mechanics.
But It's a music documentary, which can feel like a specific taste. The early sections meander a bit before the mystery crystallizes.
More like this (8)
Koyaanisqatsi1983
A vision of modern life without dialogue or conventional narrative—just Godfrey Reggio's footage and Philip Glass's hypnotic score. It feels like watching the world think. Visually astonishing and genuinely unsettling.
But No story, no answers, no comfort. Some find it pretentious; others find it essential. You have to meet it halfway.
The Last Breath2014
A tense documentary about a deep-sea diver's near-fatal accident and the obsessive investigation that follows. Human, thrilling, and asks uncomfortable questions about ego and risk in pursuit of achievement.
But Claustrophobic and technically dense. If deep-sea mechanics bore you, the middle section will feel slow.
Midnight Traveler2019
An Afghan family films their own refugee journey on smartphones, creating an intimate document of displacement and survival. Raw, urgent, and narrated from the inside rather than by outsiders looking in.
But The handheld footage is sometimes shaky. The subject—families fleeing war—is heavy and unresolved by design.
Honeyland2019
A Macedonian beekeeper's portrait that becomes an unexpectedly profound meditation on tradition, exploitation, and survival. Shot over three years with patience that lets truth emerge slowly and naturally.
But Nothing explodes. You're watching someone keep bees and navigate family. If that sounds slow, it might be.
The Ascent1977
A documentary about two men climbing the world's second-highest mountain. Intimate, visually stunning, and as much about ambition and mortality as it is about mountains.
But Mountain climbing documentaries can feel niche. There are stretches of technical hiking and very cold people looking tired.
Leviathan2013
A Russian fishing trawler observed over weeks with mounting dread. Chaotic, darkly funny, and quietly one of the most unsettling views of human labor ever filmed. Startlingly original.
But It's deliberately disorienting, shot from odd angles with minimal narrative. Some viewers find it impenetrable rather than visionary.
Cameraperson2016
Both are meditations on the camera itself as a tool for connection and distance. Both ask: what happens when someone becomes aware of being observed? What changes?
Kirsten Johnson assembles footage from her thirty years as a documentary cinematographer—intimate moments never meant to be seen together. It's a collage-film about witnessing, trauma, empathy, and what it means to hold a camera.
But No linear story, no voice-over, no explanation. You're reading moments from a stranger's life and deciding what they mean. It can feel deliberately cryptic.
The Gleaners and I2000
Like Sing Me a Song, it's made by someone watching how people live with what they have and what arrives. Both celebrate quiet dignity and resist the urge to lecture or fix. Both use the camera as an act of attention, not judgment.
Agnès Varda makes a wandering essay-film about people who live by gathering what others leave behind. It's digressive, funny, generous, and shot on a consumer camera (revolutionary at the time). Art about the invisible and discarded.
But Deliberately loose and meandering. There's no argument, just Varda following curiosity. If you want structure, this resists it.
People
Cast
- PeyangkiHimself
- Ugyen PeldenHerself
- Pemba DorjiHimself
- Choney PELDENHerself
Directing
- Thomas BalmèsDirector
Production
- Flavia ZanonCo-Producer
- Joëlle BertossaCo-Producer
- Thomas KufusCo-Producer
- Diane WeyermannExecutive Producer
- Jeff SkollExecutive Producer
- Jill CoulonLine Producer
- Thomas BalmèsProducer