The Cup

The Cup (ཕོར་པ། or Phörpa) is a 1999 Tibetan-language film directorial debut 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. The movie was submitted by Bhutan (it is 1st submission) for Best Foreign Film at the 72nd Academy Awards but was not nominated. Plot Two young Tibetan refugees arrive at a monastery in exile in India. Its serene atmosphere is disrupted by soccer fever, the chief instigator being a young student, the soccer enthusiast Orgyen. Determined to see the finals of the World Cup of 1998 between France and Brazil, he sets out to organize the rental of a TV set for the monastery. The enterprise becomes a test of solidarity, resourcefulness, and friendship for the students and monks. Production The movie was shot in the Tibetan refugee village Bir in India (Himachal Pradesh) (almost entirely between Chokling Gompa and Elu Road).