Cinema’s shared language

The 14th instalment of the European Union Film Festival brings to Nepali audiences European storytellers, emerging Nepali filmmakers and their work in celebration of the shared language of cinema.

Films will be screened 14-16 November in Kathmandu, followed by Pokhara from 21-23 November.

This year’s EUFF features 25 films, including 10 European features, six BAFTA-nominated shorts, and nine Nepali short films that explore universal themes of identity and belonging.

“We didn’t set out with a defined ‘theme’, but as the films started coming together, a pattern emerged, stories of belonging, migration, resistance, and quiet transformations,” says Prasuna Dongol, program director and curator of the festival. “It’s interesting to see those reflections across continents, showing that even though we’re worlds apart, we’re asking the same questions,” Dongol adds.

The festival is organised by the EU Delegation to Nepal, in collaboration with embassies and cultural institutions representing EU members in Kathmandu and Delhi, as well as the British Council and UNESCO.

The EU selection will showcase films from Portugal, Austria, Finland, the Netherlands, Ireland, the UK, Lithuania, France, Italy, Romania, Hungary, Poland, and Switzerland.

The films by young Nepalis, rooted in everyday small towns, friendship, or growing up in a country in transition, mirror the motifs of the selected films that tell stories of life across Europe.

Dongol adds: “Our goal was to showcase how young Nepali filmmakers are engaging with ideas of identity, place, and change in ways that feel both personal and globally resonant.”

In the lead-up to the festival, conversations were held about Nepal’s evolving film industry, and how storytellers navigate filmmaking as both art and business. Organisers plan to introduce interactive side events including networking spaces and informal markets.

A four day workshop brought together 10 emerging Nepali filmmakers to explore how to take their films from idea to market. Participants discussed why film festivals matter, how funding works, and how to build sustainable collaborations without compromising on creativity.

Meanwhile, at the British Council and UNESCO’s ‘What Next for the Film Industry?’ roundtable on 12 November, filmmakers, policymakers, and researchers discussed the findings of the recent UNESCO Baseline Assessment of the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI) of the Valley.

“Film festivals like this are not just about watching films; they’re about expanding perspective and networking,” says Dongol. “If someone discovers a new filmmaker they love or feels inspired to tell their own story differently, that’s a success for us.”

WATCHLIST

Happy

An undocumented Indian immigrant in Austria strives for a happy life for his daughter amidst the threat of deportation, revealing the shared quest for happiness in those who seem to have it all.

110 mins | Austria

Director: Sandeep Kumar

Jeʹvida

Sanna and her aunt Iida, who have never met before, drive to Lapland to empty a house they’ve both inherited. The house invokes painful memories in Iida, and Sanna learns of her withdrawn and distrusting aunt’s ordeal during the forced assimilation into Finnish society.

104 mins | Finland

Katja Gauriloff

Three Kilometres to the End of the World

Adi is spending the summer in his home village in the Danube Delta when he is brutally attacked one night. In the aftermath, his parents no longer look at him as they did, and the seeming tranquility of the village starts to crack.

104 mins | Romania

Director: Emanuel Parvu

The Last Expedition

Wanda Rutkiewicz, the most famous Polish mountaineer, went missing on 13 May 1992 on her way to Kangchenjunga. As past events are confronted with theories of Wanda’s disappearance, questions emerge– is it possible that she is still alive?

86 mins | Poland, Switzerland

Director: Eliza Kubarska

Wander to Wonder

Three miniature actors who starred in a children’s tv show are left alone in the studio after the show’s creator dies, leading them to continue making increasingly strange episodes for their fans.

14 mins | France, Belgium, United Kingdom and the Netherlands

Director: Nina Gantz

Stomach Bug

The life of a fifty-something Chinese father, whose daughter moves out and who feels invisible in British society, unravels as his loneliness manifests physically.

15 mins | United Kingdom

Director: Matty Crawford

The Kathmandu

A young musician’s dream city turns into a nightmare when his reflection comes to life, and begins living his life.

6 min | Nepal

Director: Nying Hyolmo

What grows in Thari Maila’s Vegetable Garden?

Thari Maila and wife live off of their thriving vegetable garden, but the lush garden hides secrets beneath its surface, as innocence gives way to quiet unease.

14 min | Nepal

Director: Patrika Ghimire

Abyss

Richa and Dhiraj, a couple who have just had a newborn, confront the depths of love and pain as Richa struggles with postpartum depression.

13 mins | Nepal

Director: Akriti Dhungana

Eternal Kinship

A boy’s fear of crossing a river becomes a journey toward courage and self-discovery.

11 mins | Nepal

Director: Arvin Rai

SCHEDULE

The 14th European Union Film Festival Nepal

14 – 16 November, QFX Chhaya Center, Kathmandu

21 – 23 November, QFX Trade Mall, Pokhara

All screenings free