Cellist Yo-Yo Ma and Bhutanese film director Pawo Choyning Dorji will present A Song for the Snow Lion at the 2026 Telluride Film Festival, which takes place from 4–7 September. The 21-minute short film focuses on a Himalayan folk tale about vanishing glaciers.
The film originated from a request by Ma, who approached Dorji about collaborating on a project exploring climate change and the rapid retreat of Himalayan glaciers. Ma initially envisaged a music video, but Dorji instead proposed a short film based on a folk tale from his childhood, which tells of snow lions, mythical guardians of the mountains believed to inhabit places where glaciers still endure.
’A Bhutanese child does not learn to protect the mountain by being shown a chart,’ Dorji said in an interview with Variety. ’She learns it because she is told a snow lion lives up there.’
A Song for the Snow Lion follows Ma on a journey into the remote community of Lunana. There, he explores how the ancient folk tale reminds residents of their relationship with nature and one another, and the interdependence of the two.
The film features Ma performing at elevations of up to 5,500m (18,100ft) with Bhutanese folk singer Kelden Lhamo. Despite suffering from altitude sickness during the shoot, Ma described it as a life-changing experience, ’looking down at glacial lakes, imagining the torrential rush of water they could unleash’.
The subject of the film is timely, given the recent floods in Nepal. Ma said: ’The tragedy in Nepal last month is a reminder of the stakes, for the region and for the world, a warning of nature’s capacity to be terrifyingly destructive.’
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