Celebrity chef Asma Khan will host food documentary series “Tiffin Stories,” as it was revealed at Singapore’s Asia TV Forum & Market.
In the six-part “Tiffin Stories,” Asma Khan will be seen interacting with iconic Indians and the Indian diaspora, unearthing their nostalgia associated with food, while bringing to fore their life journeys.
The series will be filmed in India and the U.K.
Khan, who is originally from India, runs the immensely popular Darjeeling Express restaurant in London. An episode of Netflix’s “Chef’s Table” series was focused on her.
Raghav Khanna is the creator and showrunner of “Tiffin Stories.” Khanna is creative director and writer of acclaimed food documentary series, “Raja, Rasoi, Aur Anya Kahaniyaan,”and more recently he was leading documentary production for Netflix in APAC, where he was the studio executive on the Oscar-winning short documentary, “The Elephant Whisperers.” He has also directed the first episode of Applause Entertainment and Film Companion’s “Modern Masters,” revolving around “RRR” director S.S. Rajamouli.
In 2022, Singapore-based production group Beach House Pictures partnered with Khanna to launch Riverland Entertainment in Mumbai, India. “Tiffin Stories” will be produced by Riverland and Tudip Entertainment, a production studio that produces projects with an international appeal. Khanna, Dipti Agrawal and Tushar Apshankar serve as producers on the series.
“Food is central to every occasion in our lives-from birth and death, to marriages. In this series we celebrate the emotional link of food and stories. Often food becomes the language of love and resilience. ‘Tiffin Stories’ is a journey into those food memories,” Khan said. “This series is my homecoming – my first time telling the story of my food and its people. I cannot imagine anyone better than Raghav to collaborate with in this journey. Everything he has worked on has a sincerity and honesty that is deeply moving.”
Tudip CEO Agrawal added: “We truly believe that ‘Tiffin Stories’ has a universal appeal as a concept due to its focus on the emotional ties between food and life stories. Our aim as Tudip is to collaborate with young and brilliant creators and talent such as Raghav and support non-fiction projects having novel and diverse subjects and elevated execution.”
Khanna said: “People’s emotional association with food, its manifestation as nostalgic memorabilia has fascinated me. In this series we aim to tell deeply personal stories of individual journeys, of perseverance and triumph, with food acting as the binding agent. I have immense admiration for Asma’s art and her contribution to Indian cuisine. I vividly remember being inspired by her episode on ‘Chef’s Table.’ Asma and I met last year and we discussed making a food series together that goes beyond food, delving into its emotional and personal aspects.”
“I feel there is no better time to tell unscripted stories. The last few years have shown that the audience’s engagement with documentaries has been through the charts. Thanks to the streaming ecosystem, stories told with authenticity now stand to find global patrons,” Khanna added.
In Mohamed Ben Attia’s surprising supernatural drama, a man fed up with the chains of his humdrum life lashes out, only to discover he possesses a logic-defying power.
Catatonic with a bright red swollen eye, middle-aged Rafik (Majd Mastoura) sits handcuffed inside a police station in the aftermath of a violent outburst at his soul-crushing office job.
Whatever gripe eroded his sanity doesn’t matter as much now, since the incident, including a suicide attempt, unearthed a supernatural ability he possesses. An unpredictable oddity of a film, “Behind the Mountains” sees seasoned Tunisian writer-director Mohamed Ben Attia step away from the straightforward social realist drama of his previous festival standouts “Dear Son” and “Hedi,” while staying steadfast in his interest for emotionally intricate protagonists and the complications of parent-child relationships.
Four years after the breakdown that landed him in prison, Rafik kidnaps his son Yassine (Walid Bouchhioua), an impressionable grade-school kid who barely remembers his father, and drives away from the capital and into the open spaces of the mountainous countryside. In brief exchanges, we learn of Rafik’s history with mental health issues and his inability to live up to the financial standards of his well-off in-laws. Forcing us to witness the consequences of his newly discovered power before we even learn what it is, editor Lenka Fillnerova cuts away right before Rafik displays it, and later brings us back to the scene in the form of brief flashbacks that imply he can fly when he jumps off of a cliff.
Entranced by Rafik’s feat, a nameless young shepherd (Samer Bisharat) chooses to follow him, like a disciple of sorts. It’s in this quiet rural man that the protagonist finds the most tenderness and unconditional trust, even as the journey veers into criminal activity. The trio sets out to make a new home behind a dragon-shaped mountain range, but Ben Attia derails their plan as various twists prevent us from ever guessing with certainty what comes next. That’s especially true when Rafik and his two companions break into the home of Wejdi (Helmi Dridi) and Najwa (Selma Zghidi), a wealthy married couple.
Once the dust has settled and all parties have agreed to remain amicable until morning, the three men from distinct segments of the social strata who otherwise may have never crossed paths — a rural laborer, an urban paper-pusher and a financially successful model father — sit together in the living room in a tense, coerced gathering. Najwa, the matriarch worried about her two young children in the house, begins scheming a way out of this home invasion.
Through lines of dialogue, Ben Attia unveils key details about both the captors and the hostages, practically all of who feel just as trapped in their lives as Rafik did at the outset (a revelation that flips the dynamic between them on its head). Early on, DP Frédéric Noirhomme frames the characters in extreme wide shots that dwarf them against the vastness of the imposing landscapes. But once the narrative moves indoors, the tight rooms augment the sense of imprisonment Raifk so desperately wants to free himself from.
Operating from a nothing-to-lose attitude, a fierce Mastoura pieces together his portrayal of Rafik with layers of determined rage, tender parental instincts toward Yassine, and a strength gained from the realization that perhaps there could be something more beyond what people collectively accept as a fulfilled life. After playing a meek man living under his protective mother’s shadow in “Hedi,” the actor reunites with Ben Attia here. Both characters share a desire to break away from societal conventions. The filmmaker effectively positions Zghidi’s anxious Najwa as a person receptive to Rafik’s logic-defying claim that he can take flight. She too wishes to escape.
Flying serves as a metaphor for existential liberation in “Behind the Mountains.” But thanks to Ben Attia’s shrewd sensibilities, its visual potency feels distinct from superhero blockbusters. Rafik has no interest in utilizing his unexpected potential for any grand, universe-altering purpose, and yet, the mere fact that he can do something no one thought possible allows others to experience personal epiphanies about the rigidness of the status quo and their seemingly unchangeable position in the world.
Ben Attia keeps these musings oblique, and, to the benefit of the film’s mystique, refuses to engage with the mechanics of Rafik’s superpower or with its source. Instead, he commits to what it evokes in him and those around him, particularly in Yassine, for whom the flying is a literal leap of faith and validation that his father is more than the negative stories he’s heard all his young life. Unorthodox, yet fascinating, “Behind the Mountains” is mostly concerned with passing on the inspiring idea that it only takes one person to believe things can be different for change to begin.
BUENOS AIRES — Representatives of Ibero-American film industry collectives gathered to discuss diversity, parity and equality in the audiovisual sector at a pair of panels held by Ventana Sur’s Punto Genero and industry strands in Buenos Aires on Thursday.
Credit: Holly Jones
Moderated by Lyara Oliveira, São Paulo promotion agency Spcine’s director of innovation and audiovisual policies, the Punto Genero discussion focused on regional strategies toward greater diversity in the field.
Panelists included Annamaría Muchnik, president of Argentina’s Asociación La Mujer y el Cine, Cristina Andreu, president of Spain’s CIMA, Mitzuko Villanueva, president of Mexico’s Mujeres en Cine y Televisión and Mónica Hernández, producer and member of the REC Sisters collective, a space for women in Colombia’s audiovisual sector.
Muchnik opened with an emotive recounting of her experience in the sector, remembering a worthwhile yet unrelenting and diligent climb toward broader acceptance for women in cinema.
“When La Mujer y el Cine was born 35 years ago, women in this country were fighting to have access to relevant places in culture, in politics, in society as a whole. We came from very dark, very painful times and we fought against a lot of resistance to expand into the most diverse social areas,” she lamented.
“We, women, knew that we were on a path of growth and progress and a path that was going to be long and difficult, it depended on our effort, no one was going to pave the way for us. We needed ideological clarity, conviction, commitment and solidarity,” she added.
The panel then traveled to Spain, as Goya-nominated director Andreu spoke to the importance of creating solid footing for women in the industry through state aid and further incentives that afford them the same ease of entry to the field that’s often enjoyed by their male counterparts, taking into consideration economic and situational barriers.
She recounted being told by producers that there were no good female directors in Spain and admitted she “was in tears, because I knew there were. What’s more, there are some that are winning awards. Another thing they like to say is that what we have to measure is talent, but talent can’t be measured without equality. When we all have the same rights, then we can measure talent.”
“Despite not having that equality, in recent years [prizes at] almost all the international and national festivals in Spain are being swept by women directors, women are winning many Spanish Academy Goya Awards. Without even reaching our goal, which would be 50-50 in the year 2025, we’re already achieving all of this,” she added.
Andreu went on to speak to changes being made to forge that access, from working in tight-knit groups effecting change, to ensuring women who wish to enter the field aren’t restricted.
“At film festivals we now have nurseries, at some festivals we’re also making these day-care centers available to the public so they can attend and leave their children there. We’re very happy because we want to create a network of Ibero-American women,” she concluded.
Speaking to the power of the collective, multi-platform Mexican producer Villanueva addressed the need for networking in all corners of the sector in a country that has long suffered the erasure of women in these fields.
“In Mexico, the issue of machismo and equality has cost us a lot of work. This is a cultural issue that we’ve been fighting for and so far we’ve achieved quite relevant positions,” she stated.
Her group helps to destigmatize women’s roles in every facet of the business and train those that wish to advance in tech and production work, with AI becoming more advanced and tools of the trade updating rapidly. Ongoing education and tips for women just entering the field are an additional priority.
“Technological progress is constant and what we have observed is that now, with artificial intelligence, we have an issue. There are many women in the Mexican industry who are over 50 and many of them find it difficult to adapt. Training in these areas seems fundamental to us and we’re working on that,” she explained.
Villanueva has contributed to a registry that lists the female professionals in the country so that productions can take advantage of a women-led workforce, offering incentives for producers who decide to support them.
She pointed to the pride in having a strong technical team in place to provide assistance to larger projects and stated that “today in Mexico we can pull off huge productions, and 100% of the crew will be made up of women, gaffers, staff, electricians.” She further credited local programs like Las Amazonas Electricas, an electric and grip team that give training workshops to women who are interested in that side of the industry.
The conversation then opened up to Hernández, who works to impart a sense of safety for women in the audiovisual realm and pin down definitions for the harassment that plagues many professionals.
“Our work revolves around three fundamental axes, one axis is prevention. From there, through training, we promote safe and equitable spaces with parity within the audiovisual guild. These training sessions are carried out on the sets with people who are already professionals and in film schools and public institutions,” she relayed.
“The second is a detection pillar, which is where we try to identify possible situations of harassment or, let’s say, different levels of equity and parity, and we sit at discussion tables and talk about it. The third is attention, and this pillar offers psychosocial or legal help to people who come to the collective and have been victims of harassment, abuse or discrimination in any workplace,” she added.
The panel wound down as participants noted the diversity among women and held firm that it’s essential to retain the ability to tell stories from these varied perspectives.
With Argentina facing the possibility of the closure of its INCAA film-TV Agency, Muchnik closed the discussion with a fierce reminder that without state aid, the country’s best and brightest will set out to produce their projects elsewhere, leaving a large gap in the cultural landscape.
“A film is the image of a country. It’s not only a work of art. When you see a film, you see how the people of that country live, how they feel, how they succeed, how they fail. Maybe Europe can have the enormous support that the platforms and the institutions have. We haven’t reached that point. We’re fighting for it, but we believe that there has to be some kind of support from the state, because that’s what has allowed us to make films that win international festivals.”
She concluded with a sobering call to action, “Simone de Beauvoir once said ‘Never forget that it only takes one political, economic or religious crisis for women’s rights to be put in jeopardy. Those rights are never to be taken for granted; you must remain vigilant throughout your life.’”
“If we’re not able to fight against all kinds of violence against us, if we can’t put together common projects that allow us to grow, that give us a hand in the difficult moments we’re going through, we won’t be able to count on the support of those who are in charge of pulling the strings of power. We won’t be able to open doors that are still closed or, even if they were open, could close again. I say to you, friends, comrades, from my country and from all the countries that have joined us, believe me, in times of uncertainty and despair, it’s essential that there are collective projects from which to plan together for hope.”
Presentation of the Second Report on Gender Equality In The Ibero-American Audiovisual Industry
Panelists Lola Díaz-González García, director for the promotion of Mexican cinema, Micaela Domínguez Prost, a journalist at LatAm Cinema.com and Juliana Funaro, international director at + Mujeres Lideranças do Audiovisual Brasileiro, joined moderator Ignacio Catoggio, general coordinator of the Conference of Ibero-American Audiovisual and Cinematographic Authorities (CAACI), to preview the sophomore report on the state of gender and sexual diversity in the Ibero-American audiovisual sector.
An ambitious set of curated data points, Catoggio admitted the information was previously, “scattered, in many cases it didn’t exist.”
“CAACI has become the think tank, the apparatus of thought on the audiovisual sector. At the same time, we’re the controllers, the ones who monitor the application of the American Union of Co-Production agreement. We regulate the way in which the region co-produces and, in turn, that’s what shapes the Ibermedia program and the application of the Ibermedia program fund,” he explained.
Meant to urge reflection and nudge action in regards to bolstering greater diversity in the sector, the data collection proved similar to a consultancy effort for the team, often working alongside governments to glean this valuable insight.
Credit: Holly Jones
Since documentation began in 2021, the countries reporting grew from 13 to 17. What may seem a modest advance is met with optimism, Catoggio pointing out that, “ if we take into account that we’re talking about 23 countries and 17 of the 23 are now included, that’s almost 80% included.”
The report has been bolstered by broader participation and organized succinctly, resulting in a more professional and systemic analysis of gender and diversity trends in the Ibero-American audiovisual sector. This year’s report is divided into four basic categories and their respective sub-indices that include institutional framework, budget support, information management and stakeholder participation.
An incremental increase of women in the sector was seen across production, direction and screenwriting fields, while parity regarding funding is still something to strive for. The two years between data sets shows that more funding and implementation for gender-specific regulations and spaces in the Ibero-American cinematic fabric have been set in place. Proving that holding the industry to account pays off in the growth of programs and initiatives year-on-year.
“In 2018 you have 178 productions made by men and 120 made by women. All the growth that there was between 2018 and 2022 is basically in productions made by women. In screenwriting it’s more or less the same. In 2018 we have 223 productions scripted by men and 80 by women. In 2022 we have 207 made by men and 130 made by women,” Catoggio noted.
Funaro added that, “In Brazil we’ve achieved 17% of women writing scripts, 19% of women in directing and 40% in production. So, still very little participation from women in script writing and direction.”
When it came to financial risk and reward, an interesting and potentially problematic trend was uncovered.
“What’s reflected is that the more money there is, the more the participation rates of women go down. In terms of production and direction, there are more women directing and producing documentaries than fiction, more women producing short films than feature films,” Catoggio went on.
The panel wrapped as participants questioned what leads women to leave the audiovisual industry, offering solutions to curb the exodus by pointing to the incorporation of best practices, quota systems for productions and programs to remove barriers and fill the decreasing but still-present void in women-led audiovisual projects.
The finalized report will be unveiled in February at the Berlin Film Festival.
BUENOS AIRES — Holding a captive audience, Laura Gouthez, president of the French video game association SO-Games, spoke about the present state of the industry and its forward trajectory in a casual discussion hosted Wednesday by Maquinitas, the games sidebar that runs in tandem with the Ventana Sur market.
Credit: Holly Jones
Located in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, the association of video game professionals is dedicated to representing actors from La Rochelle via Poitiers, Angoulême, Bordeaux, Pau, Agen and Biarritz.
Connecting the games ecosystem in France with broader global collaborations, Gouthez noted how the business ties together academia, industry and government to develop the audiovisual sector. Noting a stagnant trend in France after the pandemic, she believes the static months will quickly give way to a crescendo of creation.
“The creation of video games is down, but only the creation. The number of video game studios has increased,” she pointed out.
With five years in the video game sector, Gouthez brought a depth of knowledge about the politics surrounding funding and education in the field and spoke to the production value robust incentives and support lend in creating and retaining French and international talent by way of regional schools and studios.
France, while behind mega-markets like the U.S., Canada and China, is the second largest video game hub in Europe directly after the U.K. and just ahead of Germany, with nearly 1,000 companies dedicated to the endeavor, and 600 studios to date.
“France’s sector is so strong,” Gouthez relayed. “First of all, we have a very strong fabric. Schools, for example, schools that go train all their talents, which then go to work in the studios. We also have companies and researchers such as banks, who believe in the sector and who’re going to help the studios with money first,” she continued.
Another boon to the industry is the increasing support of the government, which in 2017, according to Gouthez, “made a bet on the sector as well.” With Ubisoft Bordeaux helping to create “Assassins Creed Mirage” and studios in the region working on ever more ambitious productions, the bet is paying off.
The discussion continued, opening up to the audience who shared the challenges in the Latin American video games sector and the roadblocks that stall creation, including trouble securing necessary funds and a lack of labor support, which at times leads to exploitation, some bringing up the formation of syndicates and unions as a means to carve out more agency for creators.
After a spirited round of questions, the talk wrapped as the audience asked about cultural representation in French video games, as a large factor in the Latin American audiovisual ecosystem is producing art that communicates something about its country of origin. Gouthez admitted it wasn’t a large priority for France, as they seek talent from around the globe that inherently leads to a wide array of representation in the video games they produce, without specific nods to French culture or lore.
All-in, the conversation led to a generous exchange of ideas that ran overtime, some curiosities left unsated.
HONG KONG — (BUSINESS WIRE) — AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “a-” (Excellent) of NongHyup Property and Casualty Insurance Company Limited (NH P&C) (South Korea). The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable.
The ratings reflect NH P&C’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, limited business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management. The ratings also reflect the implicit and explicit support the company receives from its ultimate parent, National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (NACF).
NH P&C’s risk-adjusted capitalisation is assessed at the strongest level, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR). The company’s solid expansion of retained earnings in recent periods, backed by its no-dividend policy and improved earnings, provided a partial buffer against the negative capital pressure (under IFRS 4) due to the valuation loss on available-for-sale bonds from rapid interest rate hikes in 2022. NH P&C’s financial flexibility is supported by its good accessibility to the capital market underpinned by its previous issuances of subordinated bonds and additional financial support from its immediate parent, NongHyup Financial Group Inc. (NHFG). The company has a conservative investment portfolio consisting mainly of fixed-income assets, with increased focus on asset-liability management to enhance its capital management.
AM Best assesses NH P&C’s operating performance as adequate, with a weighted five-year average operating ratio of 96.4% (2018-2022) and a return-on-equity ratio of 6.3%. The year-over-year increase in the company’s net income in 2022 was mainly driven by improved investment returns, supported by stable interest income from its bond portfolio amid the elevated interest rate environment and favourable excess return on alternative investments. Albeit moderately volatile depending on weather events, AM Best expects NH P&C’s prospective underwriting performance to remain supported by growing long-term protection products with favourable margins, coupled with improved profitability of government policy insurance lines.
NH P&C is a domestic non-life insurer in South Korea, with a 4.6% market share in terms of gross premiums written in 2022. The company is an exclusive (or major) provider of government policy insurance products for the country’s farmers, such as crop, livestock and agricultural vehicle insurances.
In its largest business line of long-term insurance, which NH P&C maintains a modest market share, the company has been gradually expanding protection-type product sales to secure its profitability and aims to diversify into non-cooperative channels, such as general agent and tied-agent channels. However, overall premium growth of the long-term line has remained limited due to strong market competition. Distribution remains highly concentrated in the cooperative channel, which is a network of NACF’s members.
As a wholly owned subsidiary of NHFG, which is the financial arm of NACF and one of the largest financial groups in South Korea, NH P&C is strategically important to NACF, given its role as the exclusive provider of government policy insurance products to cooperative members. AM Best also recognises various forms of explicit support, such as capital support from NHFG, as well as direct reinsurance support and full expense reimbursement from the government for its crop insurance line.
Negative rating actions could occur if there is a sustained deteriorating trend in NH P&C’s operating performance. Negative rating actions could also arise if the level of support or the company’s strategic importance to NACF is reduced to a degree that no longer supports the current level of enhancement. Positive rating actions could occur if NH P&C’s business profile improves in a sustainable manner, for example, through successful channel diversification that results in a materially enhanced market presence without deterioration in its risk-adjusted capitalisation and operating profitability. Positive rating actions could also occur if the company’s balance sheet strength fundamentals demonstrate sustained improvement.
Ratings are communicated to rated entities prior to publication. Unless stated otherwise, the ratings were not amended subsequent to that communication.
This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Best’s website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Best’s Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best’s Credit Ratings. For information on the proper use of Best’s Credit Ratings, Best’s Performance Assessments, Best’s Preliminary Credit Assessments and AM Best press releases, please view Guide to Proper Use of Best’s Ratings & Assessments.
AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specialising in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.
EDISON, N.J. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — According to new research released by Opengear, a Digi International company (NASDAQ, DGII, www.digi.com) and provider of secure and SmartOut of Bandmanagement solutions, a staggering 97% of U.S.-based CIOs surveyed expressed serious concerns about at least one cybersecurity threat.
This comprehensive survey encompassed responses from 502 CIOs and 510 network engineers in the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, and Australia. The primary cybersecurity concerns highlighted in the research included malware (42%), spam and phishing (34%), social engineering (31%), and insider threats (30%). Remarkably, malware also emerged as a significant threat for 42% of the surveyed network engineers.
While only 23% of U.S. CIOs reported distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks as a threat, 38% of network engineers reported a higher level of concern for this specific type of attack, most likely due to their close proximity to the network. To add to these concerns, U.S. engineers said that insufficient investments are enhancing the risk of cyberattacks and/or downtime (59%). This suggests that lack of budget spent on software upgrades and network upgrades, for example, leaves organizations more vulnerable to attack and has the potential to affect business continuity, which is a high priority for 97% of CIOs in the U.S. and 88% of CIOs globally.
“The skills shortage and insufficient investment in networks are two factors that have combined to encourage cybercriminals to breach businesses,” said Gary Marks, President at Opengear. “Smart Out of Band solutions enable organizations to manage their networks at all times from local and remote sites, even during an outage. Network engineers can make smarter, real-time decisions to achieve consistent network resilience and unparalleled visibility, with security and encryption features ensuring that management policies remain continually enforced.”
Continued technology investment is essential to enable engineers to safeguard networks during cyberattacks. The latest research further highlights a concerning trend, indicating that 27% of U.S. network engineers are actively contemplating leaving their current roles due to inadequate funding — an alarming contrast to the global average of 21%.
About Opengear
Opengear, a Digi International company, delivers secure, resilient access and automation to support critical IT infrastructure on the First Day, Every Day and Worst Day. Through presence and proximity, Opengear solutions enable provisioning, orchestration, and remote management of network devices through innovative software and appliances. Opengear solutions are trusted by global organizations across financial, digital communications, retail, and manufacturing sectors. The company is headquartered in New Jersey, with an R&D center in Brisbane, Australia.
Digi International (NASDAQ: DGII) is a leading global provider of business and mission-critical Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity products and solutions. We help our customers create next-generation connected products and solutions to deploy, monitor, and manage critical communications infrastructures and compliance standards in demanding environments with high levels of security, relentless reliability, and bulletproof performance. Founded in 1985, the company has helped customers connect more than 100 million things – and counting. For more information, visit www.digi.com, or call 877-912-3444 (U.S.) or 952-912-3444 (International).
The Himalayan Kingdom quietly spent millions building its own bitcoin mining operation. Now, using satellite imagery, Forbes has uncovered the secret locations of the world’s largest state-owned mines.
— Dozens of shipping containers lie hidden behind a hillside south of Thimphu, the Himalayan capital of Bhutan, one of the world’s most isolated nations.
Inside, millions of dollars of bitcoin mining machines work unceasingly to amass the valuable currency that now fascinates the country’s monarch — and his kingdom. Under the reign of Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, the “Dragon King,” Bhutan has been quietly transformed into a crypto Shangri-La with its government dedicating land, funding and energy to operations like these, which it hopes will avert a looming economic crisis.
But Bhutanese officials have never disclosed the location or scope of these facilities. And when it became the first country to have founded a sovereign bitcoin mine approximately four years ago, few outside of Bhutan knew. Its government only began commenting on its digital asset investments after Forbes first reported details of its multi-million-dollar portfolio earlier this year, which were exposed by the bankruptcies of fallen crypto lenders BlockFi and Celsius, with whom it had banked significant holdings.
Now, Forbes has identified the sites of what appear to be four mines run by the Thunder Dragon kingdom, based on sources with knowledge of Bhutan’s crypto investments and confirmed through satellite imagery from Planet Labs, Satellite Vu and Google Earth. They show long rectangular mining units, data center cooling systems and high capacity power lines and transformers that run from Bhutan’s hydroelectric plants to the sites. They have never been publicly disclosed.
One facility — the pilot location for Bhutan’s bitcoin mining efforts, a source said — was built near Dochula Pass, an area that holds cultural and political significance for its 108 memorial shrines dedicated to fallen Bhutanese soldiers. Planet Labs and Google Earth satellite imagery indicate that earthmoving began on the site in 2020 with construction appearing to have finished in late 2022. Aerial views show a cluster of green and white-roofed mining units enclosed by miles of forest. Though just steps from a busy highway, Google Street View suggests it is completely hidden from unknowing passersby. A second source told Forbes that the ground has been leveled along this stretch of road to provide additional cover for the site.
A second mine is located near Trongsa, a town east of Thimphu and ancestral seat of the current Wangchuck dynasty. A third is situated in the heavily forested district of Dagana, near a middle school that caters to children in the rural community.
What appears to be the kingdom’s fourth and largest mine sits on the bones of a contentious — and failed — $1 billion government megaproject called “Education City,” an effort to establish an international center “for education and knowledge” in Bhutan. The mine runs alongside the country’s first paved road, Phuentsholing-Thimphu national highway, but is concealed behind mountainous terrain. Only transformers and power lines betray the fact that a bitcoin mine now occupies the site. Historical satellite imagery shows that its construction began around December 2021, coinciding with the import of $193 million in “processing units,” according to customs data from the Ministry of Finance. The imports were appended with the same tariff code used by bitcoin mining hardware companies.
Bhutan had pitched the Education City project to its citizens as a means to secure their future amid rising youth unemployment, surging emigration numbers and brain drain. Roughly 1.5% of Bhutan’s population emigrated last year to Australia alone, many seeking job opportunities and better pay. In Bhutan, the minimum wage is set at just $45 per month and approximately 12% of its population lives below the poverty line, according to local newspaper Kuensel.
Education City was supposed to change that. In 2009, Bhutan’s government paid consulting firm McKinsey & Co. some $9 million to help design a $1 billion “world-class regional hub for health, education, finance, ICT services.” Nestled between the confluence of two rivers, the 1,000-acre campus would be a beacon of the country’s experimental Gross National Happiness economic model, and a higher ed hub for Asia. It was to host satellites of some of the most prestigious universities in the world, as well as R&D facilities, laboratories, hotels and event centers. And according to the Bhutanese government, it would promote “Brand Bhutan,” creating a “green and sustainable economy,” “culturally and spiritually sensitive industries” and a “knowledgeable society.”
It did none of those things. Plagued by political scandals, mismanagement and innumerable delays, Education City was scrapped in 2014. But left behind were roads, bridges, a water supply and, crucially, power lines — building blocks for a bitcoin mine.
The kingdom’s sovereign investing arm, Druk Holdings & Investment (DHI), confirmed the mines’ existence. “Sites for bitcoin-mining related facilities in Bhutan have been selected based on the logistical needs of the operations such as power supply and a variety of other factors,” it told Forbesthrough an outside communications firm. It declined to comment on their locations, however, stating that “DHI does not disclose commercially sensitive details of its operations.”
Bitcoin was a Hail Mary addition to Bhutan’s economic masterplan. The kingdom’s finances have long been underpinned by tourism revenues and the export of a massive surplus of hydropower to its neighbor India. But the Covid pandemic tanked the $88.6 million annual revenue the country collected from $65-a day visa fees, requiring an urgent course correction. According to multiple sources, Bhutanese government officials began holding talks with bitcoin miners and suppliers sometime in 2020.
DHI, which oversees Bhutan’s bitcoin operations, told local newspaper The Bhutanesethat it “entered the mining space” when the cryptocurrency’s price was $5,000 (it was last valued at this level in April 2019 but is now worth $36,000). Bhutan’s own import data and satellite imagery suggest that its operations truly ramped up in 2020. In May, when Forbes asked DHI to confirm that timing, a spokesperson for the fund would say only that a series of bitcoin investments were made “in a period in 2019.” They added that DHI was “currently net positive in our digital asset position.” Bitcoin’s price collapsed from $69,000 in November 2021 to under $17,000 last December.
in November 2021 to under $17,000 last December.
The site in Dochula sits alongside a public road but is largely hidden by the landscape.
The Bhutanese reported in June that DHI was planning to sell down its bitcoin stockpile to fund a 50% salary hike for government officials worth $72 million, as Bhutan faces an economic and political crisis with a trade deficit running down its hard currency reserve to just $689 million. (This will cover just 14 months of imports while the country’s constitution requires 12 months of reserves).
Several sources inside Bhutan told Forbes that the mines are now an open secret, though neither the Bhutanese government nor DHI have formally disclosed their existence. In emails to Forbes, DHI has consistently declined to comment on the scope or financing of its cryptocurrency regime.
DHI, which also operates the nation’s flagship airline, hydroelectric power plants and a cheese factory, does not provide any breakdown of revenues or investment in bitcoin mining in its annual accounts beyond noting it had raised foreign currency bonds to fund the project. Bhutan’s Ministry of Finance has been equally quiet. Outside academics and insiders who specialize in monitoring global bitcoin activity told Forbesthat the country’s mining activities remain a conundrum. DHI claimed that it was “not involved in decisions as to the use of funds that DHI pays out to the Government.”
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Daniel Radcliffe almost made his directorial debut with the documentary “David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived,” about his “Harry Potter” stunt double who was left paralyzed after a tragic on-set accident.
At the London premiere of the HBO and Sky doc, Radcliffe Zoomed in from New York City — where he’s currently starring in the Broadway revival of “Merrily We Roll Along” — for a Q&A with Holmes and director Dan Hartley, in which he revealed that he initially set out to helm the film himself.
“I had always wanted to do something about Dave because I wanted to share him with the world for the person that he is. And Dave’s natural humility meant that he was kind of unsure about that for a while — he wanted to make something broader about stunts in general. But eventually, I sort of convinced him that he should be front and center of it,” Radcliffe said. “And we shot some stuff because for some reason, I thought — having never done anything like this before — that I would know how to direct a documentary. Turns out, I didn’t. At all.”
Radcliffe and Holmes knew Hartley from his work as a video operator on the “Harry Potter” franchise, and asked him to step in. Hartley had previously directed the drama “Lad: A Yorkshire Story” in 2013.
“We wanted someone we knew and that would connect to the material in the same way that we did. We were kind of scared of somebody from the outside coming in with a slightly more salacious lens,” Radcliffe said. “Dan had obviously made a feature film before. He hadn’t made a documentary, but we trusted him immensely and we talked about all the docs that we loved and we were very much on the same page. Then Dan shot a couple of afternoons of interviews and showed us, and from that moment it was so clear.”
Radcliffe said that when he showed Hartley the footage he had shot, “he very kindly went, ‘If you want to make a documentary that you know, looks good, you should probably start again.’ So we did, and he just absolutely hit the nail on the head and made the film that you see in front of you.”
Radcliffe instead took on the role of an executive producer on the film, which follows Holmes’ recovery after suffering a spinal cord injury during pre-production rehearsals for “Deathly Hallows Part 1,” in addition to appearing in it. Variety chief TV critic Alison Herman praised the documentary in her review, writing that it is “an attempt on Radcliffe’s part to use his fame to shed light on his friend’s story — and navigate the complex mix of guilt, motivation and admiration spurred by the two men’s contrasting, interwoven fates.”
As for what Holmes hopes viewers take away from the movie, he referred to a lyric from Taylor Swift’s song “August”: “Living for the hope of it all.”
“[Hope] is the first thing you should look for, and the last thing you should let go,” Holmes continued. “It’s a bit messy out there right now, isn’t it? And just to see the collective support that allowed me to live my life and also what we can create when we all trust and love each other and are open — I think we should all be more willing to share our vulnerabilities. It’s what makes us human, and no one should be ashamed of it in any way, shape or form. It’s the scars of life that make us who we are.”
“David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived” is now available to stream on HBO and will premiere in the U.K. on Sky Documentaries and streaming service NOW on Nov. 18.
LOLLAPALOOZA INDIA HEADLINERS: Sting, Jonas Brothers, Halsey and OneRepublic are among the headline acts set to perform at Lollapalooza India in January.
The music festival is set for a second edition Jan. 27-28, 2024, at the Mahalaxmi Race Course in Mumbai and will comprise four stages with over 20 hours of live music.
Other confirmed acts include: “piano rockers of alternative rock Keane; bold and fearless pop phenomenon and singer-songwriter Lauv; modern dance music duo Jungle; inimitable sound rockers Royal Blood; radical and unorthodox hip-hop rapper JPEGMAFIA; Italian electronic dance music artist Meduza; French house DJ Malaa; eclectic, psychedelic and pop music blending Caribou; K-pop and rock music fusion powerhouse The Rose; bilingual K-pop American blend of pop, R&B and soulful vocals of Eric Nam; pioneering world music sounds blended with Indian folk and classical melodies by Anoushka Shankar; one of the most vital standard-bearers of modern African music Fatoumata Diawara; global festival favorite hip-hop record producer and DJ Kenny Beats; India’s most sought after contemporary Indian folk band The Raghu Dixit Project; homegrown favorites multilingual indie-folk alternative band When Chai Met Toast; and Israeli alternative indie electronic pop sound masters Garden City Movement,” organizers said.
PARAMOUNT PREMIUM
Paramount+ Australia has launched the service’s Premium tier subscription plan to provide consumers with a variety of choices on how they would like to access the service’s ‘Mountain of Entertainment.’ The Premium plan brings Paramount’s blockbusters, exclusive originals, and hit shows to new heights with premium quality formats, including 4K UHD, HDR10, and Dolby Vision. Premium subscribers can also utilize four concurrent streams (instead of the two streams that come with the standard plan). The Premium plan launches in Australia for A$13.99 ($9.10) monthly and A$124.99 ($81.30) annually.
UNIVERSAL ALLIANCE
Universal Music Group India and Indian independent talent management company Represent have announced a strategic partnership to accelerate the opportunities available for its artists. Working together on artist development and fan engagement, Represent’s talent roster will gain access to UMG’s global footprint across distribution, publishing and brands. Some of its artists, who have billions of streams combined, will be distributed and supported under this strategic partnership include Anuv Jain, MC Stan, Zaeden, Lost Stories, Yashraj, Hanita Bhambri, Akanksha Bhandari, Kamakshi Khanna, Saahel, Savera, Kayan, OAFF and Jai Dhir.
