Pawo Choyning Dorji

Pawo Choyning Dorji
དཔའ་བོ་ཆོས་དབྱིངས་རྡོ་རྗི།
Born	(1983-06-23) 23 June 1983 (age 41) Darjeeling, India
Nationality	Bhutanese
Alma mater	Lawrence University
Occupation(s)	Filmmaker, Screenwriter, Producer, Photographer
Notable work	Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom, The Monk and the Gun
Spouse	Stephanie Lai ​ (m. 2009)​
Children	2
Relatives	Stan Lai (father-in-law)
Awards	Nominee for Best International Feature for 94th Academy Awards; Druk Thuksey; Norwegian Peace Film Award Tromsø International Film Festival; Premio Lessinia D'Oro Award Lessinia Film Festival; Premio Della Giuria Microcosmo Award; NETPAC Award; Special Jury Award Rome Film Festival; IMDb Audience Choice Award Jio Mami Film Festival; Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature Film Palm Springs International Film Festival; Audience Award Fribourg International Film Festival

Pawo Choyning Dorji Druk Thuksey (Dzongkha: དཔའ་བོ་ཆོས་དབྱིངས་རྡོ་རྗི།; born 23 June 1983) is a Bhutanese filmmaker and photographer. His feature directorial debut Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom (2019) was nominated for Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards. His second film The Monk and the Gun (2023) was shortlisted for the Best International Feature Film for the 96th Academy Awards. ^[1]

Dorji is the youngest recipient of Bhutan's highest civilian award, the Druk Thuksey, the Heart Son of the Thunder Dragon. It was bestowed to him by King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In June, 2024, Dorji received an Honorary Doctorate in the Fine Arts from his Alma Mater Lawrence University, and was the commencement speaker for the graduating class.