Nepali cinemas’ increasing access to the world stage

Since the last decade the presence of Nepali films in world film festivals has become a regular phenomena. Any movie that was selected and screened on the world stage also managed to get good appreciation. We have started noticing the presence of Nepali short and feature films in international film festivals such as Cannes, Berlin, Toronto, Busan, Venice, Lucarno, Rotterdam, Dhaka etc. The latest film ‘Sambala’ directed by Min Bham has been selected for the main competition at the Berlin Film Festival. In the case of Nepal, this is the first film to chosen for the main competition in Berlin. This year, the short film ‘Songs of Love and Hate’ directed by Saurav Ghimire is also being screened in Berlin.

Recently, Nabin Subba’s ‘Gaau Aayeko Bato’ premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in Canada. In the past, Dayahang Rai starrer ‘Highway’ in Berlin and ‘White Sun’ were screened at the Venice Film Festival. Both films are directed by Deepak Rauniyar. In the same year, the Busan International Film Festival in South Korea screened ‘Gaau Aayeko Bato’ and the short film ‘Sakshi Rukh’ directed by Niranjanraj Vetwal. Likewise, “The Red Suitcase” was premiered this year at the world-renowned Venice International Film Festival in Italy. Five films were selected in the Mumbai Film Festival (MAMI) this year under the feature and short categories, including ‘Gaau Aayeko Bato’ and ‘The Red Suitcase’. Ayarus Paudel’s ‘Helena and Wind Horse’, Saurabh Rai’s ‘Guras’ and Vidushi Giri’s ‘Chiso Ghar’ were also screened at the festival.

In the year 2022, two Nepali films won awards at the Dhaka International Film Festival held in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Sujith Bidari won the best director award for the feature film ‘Aina Jhyalko Putli’ and Kiran Pokharel won the best script award for the short film ‘Putliko Sapna’.