Up-and-coming Ladakhi filmmaker Stenzin Tankyong, whose short films “Sekur” and “The Last Day of Summer” (Rotterdam, 2023) were widely screened on the film festival circuit, has written the script and will direct “Kakut” (The Idiot).
The Idiot is produced by veteran filmmakers Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam of White Crane Films, and co-produced by Flor Cabigneault and Jérôme Bresson (Wolf Dogs, Venice Film Festival, 2022) of France’s La Belle Affair Productions. La Belle Affaire Productions previously produced Tankyon’s “Last Days of Summer.”
Set against the backdrop of the vast highland landscape of Ladakh’s Changthang region, The Idiot is a humorous and quirky coming-of-age drama about Shingay, an 18-year-old underachiever who fails to advance beyond grade 10 in a remote government school. When the school faces impending closure, the entire school staff unites to complete one last mission to help him finally pass his exams.
For Tankyong, this story is rooted in the pressing and largely overlooked reality that government-run village schools are facing a sharp decline in enrollment as more families choose private schools in Leh and larger cities. Filmmakers see this as a quiet but escalating crisis. While some families can afford to send their children away, many cannot, leaving a generation vulnerable to being left behind. “An uneducated generation cannot uplift a community, and this film explores that truth through honesty, humor, and heart,” he says.
The team has begun initial financing discussions with WAVES Film Bazaar marking the project’s market debut. Some private equity has been secured to begin development, and the producers are actively seeking international partners, co-producers and investors.
With the script complete and key cast and locations confirmed, production on “Idiot” is scheduled to begin in July 2026 and end in May 2027 to capture the region’s dramatic seasonal changes.
WAVES Film Bazaar is a part of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) market in Goa.
