The Nepal Weekly 
November 26, 2024
The Film Southasia (FSA) festival, a biennial event of South Asian documentaries, which commenced on Thursday and concluded on Sunday. Screened at Yalamaya Kendra, Lalitpur, Nepal, the festival featured 47 documentaries highlighting the impact of human activity on nature, particularly in the context of climate change.
Films from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Mongolia were screened under the theme ‘Documentary in the Anthropocene’. The 47 films were carefully selected from over 2,000 submissions. Directors and producers from 27 of those films were expected to attend the event.
In addition to screenings, the festival will include a Director’s Workshop led by filmmaker Kabir Khan, panel discussions on Nepali documentaries, and masterclasses on financing and editing. These sessions are being organized in collaboration with the British Council’s WOW Festival and KathaHaru Production Company.
Film Southasia 2024 presented a unique platform to explore pressing environmental issues through the lens of South Asian cinema. Film Southasia (FSA) is a biennial festival that was set up in 1997 with the goal of popularising the documentary so that it entertains, informs and changes lives.
In addition to the festival that takes place in Kathmandu every two years, FSA organizes screenings, discussions and workshops across Southasia to promote Southasian non-fiction within the Subcontinent and around the world. Film Southasia believes that film is a powerful medium that helps to not only in better represent the region internationally, but also contributes immensely in introspection and initiatives to bring change at the local level.
Thirteen editions of the festival have been held to date. At each festival, films are judged by a three-member Southasian jury and the best film is awarded the ‘Ram Bahadur Trophy’ for Best Film along with a citation and a cash prize of USD 2,000. The second best film is awarded a citation and cash prize of USD 1,000. The Best Debut Film is awarded the Tareque Masud Award and cash prize of USD 1,000. There is also an award for Best Film on Social/Children’s Issues, with a cash prize of USD 1,000. A Best Student Film Award (instituted in 2015) with a citation and cash prize of USD 500 will also be given for entries sent in through film schools.
Film Southasia had announced the official selection of 47 documentary films for the 14th edition of the premier documentary film festival in Southasia 2024. The participating documentaries compete for several awards, including Best Film, Jury Award, Best Student Film, Best Debut Film, and the newly introduced Best Film in the Climate Crisis Award, promising an exciting celebration of documentary cinema.
