As one of the last countries in the world to introduce television in 1998, and internet a year later, Bhutan has a whole new generation of young adults who have grown up with access to movies, football matches, and Facebook. The Buddhist-majority country holds its culture and traditions dear, and parents expect to pass these values down to their children who are having difficulty adjusting to the two worlds. The Next Guardian (2017) is a new documentary that explores this contrast between traditionalist values and modernist changes in Bhutan and questions the ideals of the country’s Gross National Happiness slogan. Directed by Arun Bhattarai and Dorottya Zurbó, the feature-length documentary follows a teen brother and sister, Gyembo and Tashi, who love soccer and their phones. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/in-nepal-east-meets-west-musically">In Nepal, East meets West musically</a>, Shrijan Pandey  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023061113068_f36c45447643ca3e6bf111ef35f2f40b131ec34b3649566c774f1ae9d64698e7.png" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2023061113068_f36c45447643ca3e6bf111ef35f2f40b131ec34b3649566c774f1ae9d64698e7" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="803" loading="lazy" alt="The Next Guardian NT 2"> </figure>  Their father runs a monastery and believes that their culture must be passed on to future generations to preserve it. Gyembo is studying in a modern English school, loves football, and has crushes on some girls in his class. But he is suddenly expected to become a monk. Bhattarai came up with this true story when he heard about Bhutan’s first female football camp. He spent six months in the camp and finally came across Tashi who looked and acted like a boy and wanted to become a football player. However, after meeting her family and Gyembo, he changed his focus to show the widening generational gap in Bhutan by documenting one family’s story. “We saw it as an opportunity to reflect on how Bhutan is changing,” Bhattarai told an online audience during an online screening of his documentary by Screen Southasia organised by Himal Southasian, which also holds the biannual Film Southasia documentary festival. “Screen Southasia was born out of our love for South Asian documentaries and Film Southasia’s massive archive of documentaries and network of alumni,” says Alok Adhikari, Assistant Director of Film Southasia. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/pasang-lhamu-sherpa-the-film">Pasang Lhamu Sherpa, the film</a>, Tayama Rai  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023061113068_fb42d3dac6947db26be86256f41b27af537a886692cafd2e5ed54636de071111.png" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2023061113068_fb42d3dac6947db26be86256f41b27af537a886692cafd2e5ed54636de071111" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="856" loading="lazy" alt="The Next Guardian NT 3"> </figure>  Screen Southasia hosts monthly online shows of compelling documentaries from the region, including Nepal, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Burma, Bangladesh, Maldives and Sri Lanka -- a diverse range of films, both classic and new, that showcase the unique cultures, histories and perspectives of the Subcontinent. Screenings are followed by Q&amp;A sessions &nbsp;with the filmmaker, editor, camera person to better understand the craft of filmmaking, funding and marketing aspects.&nbsp; June’s selected The Next Guardian effectively captures the transition of Bhutan to the digital age as Gyembo, Tashi, and their friends use smartphones, watch football tutorials, take photos, and talk to friends on Facebook. It also portrays how Gyembo is not different from young people anywhere else in the world today. In contrast, their father prepares local dishes, does everyday rituals, performs traditional dances, and is passionate about Buddhist teachings. With its rich cinematography, the film uses static wide shots to portray the scenic beauty of Bhutan and to showcase the rhythm of everyday rural life in the country. Key to Bhattarai’s filming style is not to use a lot of movement to capture the real, authentic rituals of the family with cinéma vérité technique. The cinematography is unobtrusive, and the characters ignore the film-makers and go about without being at all self-conscious. The blurs the dimension between film and reality. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/on-screen-mountains">On-screen mountains</a>, Sahina Shrestha  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023061113068_0bdb4decbe10c16488b4afe993680dba4313ed7d4f3c509713ed2178cde00c1d.png" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="2023061113068_0bdb4decbe10c16488b4afe993680dba4313ed7d4f3c509713ed2178cde00c1d" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="850" loading="lazy" alt="The Next Guardian NT 4"> </figure>  “Sometimes, I waited for hours observing their day-to-day interactions. Some clips were possible only after the protagonists opened up as themselves, forgetting the camera,” Bhattarai explains. The film delves into the traditional South Asian dynamic where a child cannot say no to parents and is expected to carry out their wishes. The father constantly tries to convince Gyembo of the advantages of becoming a monk and the importance of preserving heritage. Gyembo has different dreams, celibacy not being one of them, yet he never actively protests. “Since I grew up near Bhutan, I wanted to tell this story,” says Bhattarai. Tashi has her own arc in the story, dressing up and cutting her hair like a boy, and she is mostly drawn to masculine behaviour. She is passionate about being a football player, and the film shows a wonderful acceptance of Tashi’s gender expression by her family and society at large. Her father, in line with his strong Buddhist beliefs, sees Tashi as a girl born with the spirit of a boy from her past life and calls it natural. And after seeing movie, Gyempo’s father postponed sending him to the monastery. The Next Guardian was the first documentary film many people in Bhutan watched in a cinema for the first time. It won the Best Documentary at the Zsigmond Vilmos Film Festival in 2018, and was nominated for the Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco International Film Festival. Films like The Next Guardian highlight dynamic cultures and their unique ways of relating to the world. However, financing is difficult, and filmmakers often have to rely on producers from the West.&nbsp; Says Arun Bhattarai: “What this means is that rather than producing a relatable film for the local audience, sometimes you have to make it relatable to a Western audience.” Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/at-the-edge-of-tomorrow">At the edge of tomorrow</a>, Mark Turin The next Screen Southasia event will be a film from Bangladesh.

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In the land of Gross National Happiness

<h2>Kagbeni</h2> <img width="1280" height="720" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131156/63723b869c7e80680e0c95cajpeg.jpg" alt=""/><a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=14366#.YzFEKuxByjA">This 2008 film</a> loosely based on W W Jacob’s 1902 horror story The Monkey’s Paw is perhaps best known as the first successful non-mainstream Nepali movie. Krishna returns from Malaysia and is reunited with his childhood friend, Ramesh. Their lives forever change after receiving a talisman with tantric powers from a sadhu. After this, the story becomes a drama that unfolds at two levels: the real and the occult. Bhusan Dahal's directorial debut stars Saugat Malla, Deeya Maskey, Nima Rumba, Hanif Mohammed and Pooja Gurung. <h2>Kalo Pothi: The Black Hen </h2> <img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131156/63723b899c7e80680e0c95cbjpeg.jpg" alt="">This 2015 drama takes place in Mugu district during the Maoist conflict. Two boys Prakash and Kiran, belonging to different castes raise a hen together, but when it disappears they start a perilous journey. They are caught in the crossfire of the insurgency, unaware of the atrocities that lie ahead. Kalo Pothi is the first Nepali film to be screened at the Venice Film Festival. The cast includes Khadka Raj Nepali, Sukraj Rokaya, Jit Bahadur Malla, Benisha Hamal, Hansa Khadka and Bipin Karki. Directed by Min Bahadur Bham. <h2>Prakash </h2> <img width="1110" height="500" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131156/63723b8c9c7e80680e0c95ccjpeg.jpg" alt="">Set in the post-monarchy Jumla, Prakash follow the titular character played by Pradeep Khadka, a poor labourer who dreams of becoming a teacher in a government school. It is also a story of his mother Sita portrayed by Diya Maskey who is still searching for her missing husband. The film expertly depicts the struggle borne out of political change, the life of Jumlelis in one of the most neglected parts of Nepal and class difference. Debutant Renu Yogi also does a fair job in this film directed by Dinesh Raut.   <h2>Chiso Manchhe </h2> <img width="720" height="405" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131156/63723b8f9c7e80680e0c95cdjpeg.jpg" alt="">When a Nepali migrant worker dies in Qatar, his father and wife travel to Kathmandu to retrieve his body. They are then accompanied by a driver who is taking them back home to their village in Bajura district in far west Nepal. Set against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic and ensuing restrictions, the three face numerous obstacles in the way highlighting the political and social discrimination faced by ordinary Nepalis by agencies of the state. Directed by Dipendra K Khanal with Swastima Khadka, Arpan Thapa and Desh Bhakta Khanal in lead roles. <h2> Ainaa Jhyal ko Putali</h2> <img width="1920" height="1075" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131156/63723b909c7e80680e0c95cejpeg.jpg" alt="">Directed by Suresh Bidari, the film revolves around two siblings, Bidya and her younger brother Basanta. An excellent student and aspiring poet with big dreams, Bidya struggles with the societal pressure of being a girl in society despite having a supportive mother. When Basanta sees his sister slowly giving up on her dreams, he desperately tries to give her the hope she has lost. Staring Kanchan Chimariya, Dinesh Khatri, Siru Bista, Bisha Chamling Rai, Raj Thapa, Umesh Shrestha, Mallika Shrestha, Ashok Siwakoti and Prasanna Paudel. The movie is Nepal's entry into the Oscars and has been praised as the best example of the Nepal New Wave

Nepali New Wave Cinema

<figure><img width="800" height="440" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121148/636b938b9c7e80680e06f1aejpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Bipin Karma plays one of two leads in the Hong Kong film 'Hand Rolled Cigarette'.</figcaption></figure>A young man in a brightly patterned jacket is on the run after having stolen drugs from some dangerous-looking people. The scene changes. Let me hide here for a while, says the young man to an older person, seated in a dark apartment. Why did a whole crew come after you? the other man asks him.The young man being chased across the streets of Hong Kong is played by Nepali actor Bipin Karma in the Hong Kong film release, Hand Rolled Cigarette. Karma is one of the two leads alongside acclaimed Hong Kong actor Gordon Lam Ka-tung (playing a former British Army soldier) and gives an excellent first-time performance as a troubled young South Asian man in debutant director Chan Kin-long’s neo-noir crime drama. His role marks the first time an actor of Nepali descent has broken into mainstream Hong Kong cinema.Hand Rolled Cigarette follows an unemployed retired British Army veteran who struggles to keep his head above water in Hong Kong after its handover to China in 1997, and a young Indian/Pakistani man navigating life in the city’s seedy underworld. The 101-minute film was the opener at the 17th Hong Kong Asia Film Festival, and closed the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival, where it was nominated for awards in seven categories, including Best Picture. The film is now out worldwide after its premiere in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. <figure><img width="1066" height="1600" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121148/636b938d9c7e80680e06f1afjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Bipin Karma with Hong Kong actor Gordon Lam Ka-tung during filming of the movie.</figcaption></figure>Twenty-four-year-old Karma, whose family is originally from Pokhara, pinned a Nepali flag pin on his lapel when he attended the movie’s gala premiere at the Elements Theatre in Hong Kong on 17 June. The Hong Kong-born actor spent eight years of his childhood in Nepal, completing his primary education in the country before returning to Hong Kong. His Nepali is fluent, but in the film he plays a bilingual character who speaks Hindi and Cantonese. “It was a bit difficult in the beginning, to have to speak in Cantonese and Hindi,” Karma recalls. He had been apprehensive of his ability to play the role when he was initially offered the film in 2019, but eventually overcame his nerves and accepted the offer. <figure><img width="5508" height="3459" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121148/636b93909c7e80680e06f1b0jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Photo: JAGAT AMBU GURUNG</figcaption></figure><figure><img width="4115" height="2449" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121148/636b93949c7e80680e06f1b1jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Photo: DAMBAR KRISHNA SHRESTHA</figcaption></figure>Karma himself was drawn towards videography and short filmmaking after participating in a filmmaking course for non-Chinese students at school. However, pursuing a career in acting had not crossed his mind at the time. “I had been more interested in the behind-the-scenes aspect of filmmaking before I was offered the role,” he says. “I accepted the offer because I really liked the story.”Although he had no prior acting experience in mainstream films, Karma had played in a movie that he himself made for a festival at university. He had uploaded videos of himself doing parkour on YouTube and had worked on a few commercials as well which came to the notice of Director Chan Kin-long.Karma’s parkour experience also helped him with stunts in Hand Rolled Cigarette, where he can be seen running through the streets of Hong Kong and jumping out of a window at one point. And it is not a body double. <img width="1200" height="1775" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121148/636b93979c7e80680e06f1b2jpeg.jpg" alt="">The <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=1513#.YM8N9C8w3BI" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepali diaspora in Hong Kong</a> has celebrated Karma’s achievement, with the Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) in Honk Kong putting out an open call for Nepalis to go to theatres and watch the film. Heeding the call, Nepalis here have been flocking to theatres.“This is a matter of pride not only for Bipin but for all Nepalis,” says NRNA Hong Kong President Radhika Gurung. Indra Wanem, president of the Nepali Society in Hong Kong, says that Karma’s entry into the film industry has given rise to newfound enthusiasm among Nepali youth in Hong Kong. “Not only has Bipin’s achievement created interest among the Nepali youngsters here, but it has solidified the image of Nepali talent and capability among the citizens of Hong Kong,” he says.Karma’s father Dilli Bishwakarma is a <a href="http://lbms03.cityu.edu.hk/oaps/ais2013-6002-as000.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">construction site supervisor in Hong Kong</a>, and is delighted by his son’s achievement, saying he has inspired and boosted the confidence of the 30,000 Nepalis who live in the territory.   “He got a big opportunity right from the beginning, and I know that he will continue to do even better work in the future,’ Biswakarma says, brimming with pride. Karma, who is busy doing press for the film, has been getting positive feedback for his performance. He considers himself lucky to have played a lead role in his first movie, and sees this as an opportunity for bigger and better things. He says, “I will work harder in future.” Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/gaumaya-gurung-going-places/">Gaumaya Gurung going places</a>, Sajana Baral

Nepali actor shines on Hong Kong silver screen

As with all spheres of national life that make up our social and cultural fabric, Nepal’s film industry has also been hit hard. Cinemas are closed, shooting has stopped, and there is even less investment in new movies.As with the global film industry, Nepali producers are also disseminating directly through YouTube and other streaming platforms. Film festivals are being held online.The Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival (KIMFF) <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/business/kimff-2020/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">took place virtually</a> from 10-14 December and had 300 entries this year, out of which 12 films were chosen for the Nepal Panorama and 18 for the international competition.“Because we went virtual, many people outside Nepal were able to see the films, and the number of entries was surprisingly high even given the times we’re in,” KIMFF director Ramyata Limbu told Nepali Times.“If you can’t get people to the hall in terms of logistics and time, doing festivals online in this multimedia era would make it more accessible for people who don’t have the time or inclination to make it to the theatres,” says Limbu. “The more accessible we can make it, the more people will take the time to view independent films.A selection of notable films from 2020: <figure><img width="1920" height="1080" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191120/636bf0284b0ad905ca02eff4jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: NISHON SHAKYA</figcaption></figure>The CrematorNishon Shakya’s, documentary which <a href="https://kimff.org/the-cremator/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">premiered at KIMFF</a>, follows elderly cremator Gyan Bahadur, who is nearing the end of his professional life at the Bhasmeshwar ghat at Pashupati. Gyan Bahadur’s narration of his life is accompanied by powerful visuals of cremations at Pashupati. Caution: Viewer Discretion Advised. Shakya is uncompromising in his visuals of the dead, in a way a macabre reminder of the times we live in.  Gyan Bahadur cremates the dead, a cigarette held tight between his lips, discusses politics, offers medical advice, and tells the story of his life. Having himself lost two of his sons in their childhood, Gyan Bahadur says he makes money off other people’s losses. At times, he is scathing about the living, who like to send off their dead with style but have no words of kindness to the people who help them pass on. Surrounded by mortality, he speaks matter-of-factly about his own death, accepting that he will eventually find his way back to Pashupati and move on from this world the same way he helped countless others. <figure><img width="1440" height="645" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191120/636bf02b4b0ad905ca02eff5jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Day 33Filmed in the throes of the Covid-19 lockdown, LSM’s (Sailesh RC) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSFRDsh9kX8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">relevant short film</a> captures a young man’s increasing agitation as he searches for food in his room on the 33rd day of the shutdown. In the barely furnished space, surrounded by empty food containers and an empty wallet, he doesn’t find any. And so, he must settle for anything that he can find within the space that he can move in.The brevity of the film works in its favour — there are no unnecessary drawn-out scenes that attempt to force more meaning or gravitas to the story. There are no dialogues, no angry soliloquies, not one word from the protagonist. The film doesn’t need them. There is just weariness and resignation. <figure><img width="733" height="620" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191120/636bf02d4b0ad905ca02eff6jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Come Over for a Drink, Kanchhi Sikuma Rai’s documentary played at the Pame Film Festival, NHRIFF, and KIMFF. <a href="https://festival.kimff.org/nepal-panorama/come-over-for-a-drink-kanchhi/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Come over for a drink, Kanchhi</a> is a deeply personal narrative of the Rai women of Bhojpur for whom alcohol is woven into the fabric of their daily lives. The women sing and smile and drink in groups throughout the film, even as they hold immense sadness within themselves. Weathered by the loss of children and loved ones to disease and suicide, they make and drink alcohol to deal with grief and trauma. Because alcohol is as much a part of ceremony and celebration as much as melancholy, the women are not apologetic about drinking. “There is a big hole in my heart,” says one of the women, who all suffer from depression. In a country where mental health is stigmatised, the film shines a light on how people deal with depression in rural areas. <figure><img width="1991" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191120/636bf02f4b0ad905ca02eff7jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The Snow Leopards CallingTshiring Lhamu Lama was inspired to work for the conservation of snow leopards when she saw how the endangered Himalayan cats were tortured and poisoned by locals in Dolpo in retaliation for killing their livestock. Sonam Choekyi Lama’s award-winning short documentary is <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/trekking-to-save-nepals-snow-leopards/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the story of her sister Tshring’s drive and determination</a> to save and protect a part of her world through snow leopard conservation. Tshiring treks across the freezing, harsh but stunning winter landscape of Phoksundo to capture the movement of Snow Leopards, recognising the importance of the footage for conservation as well as much-needed tourism in the area.The film includes heartbreaking footage of snow leopards being dragged by their tails and kicked by locals into holes in the ground. However, Tshiring’s joy and enthusiasm at having captured snow leopards on film end the visually beautiful documentary on a hopeful, optimistic note. <figure><img width="1600" height="592" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191120/636bf0324b0ad905ca02eff8jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Bare Trees in the MistFilmmaker Rajan Kathet’s Bare Trees in the Mist made its rounds in festivals around the world, including <a href="https://tiff.net/events/bare-trees-in-the-mist" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Toronto in 2019</a>, South Korea, Turkey, Italy, the UK, Finland and India before being screened at home during KIMFF 2020. In this stunning drama, Kaali’s son informs his mother that a neighbour’s husband has returned from abroad bearing gifts for the two of them. Kaali, whose own husband has left home telling his wife that he’s going to Arab (“Which Arab?” her neighbour’s husband asks. Kaali doesn’t know) makes the journey to visit them. Kaali’s tense yet hopeful wait in silence, the choice of aspect ratio, everything adds to the film’s atmosphere, underlying urgency and anxiety of the protagonists. <figure><img width="1440" height="773" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191120/636bf0354b0ad905ca02eff9jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>BabuIn <a href="http://www.arpafilmfestival.com/short-film-babu-by-eelum-dixit-2020-arpa-iff/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Eelum Mani Dixit’s film</a>, the eponymous Babu finds his village and home torn apart by the 2015 earthquake that takes the life of his mother, and takes his desperate father away to India in search for work. A story of three generations of men in post-earthquake Nepal, the film brims with a young boy’s anger and heartbreak, a father’s helplessness, and a grandfather’s sorrow.Dixit packs a lot of emotion into subtle gestures throughout the film, like when Babu’s father hands him sweets before he leaves for India. Or when Babu gives a marble to the girl he likes-- someone he is probably never going to see again-- as she and her family move away to India. And especially when Babu buys his grandfather, with whom he has a tumultuous relationship, a pen for his journal with the money he had painstakingly saved up working to bring his father back home sooner. The film is not only emblematic of the mass exodus of Nepali men and women to foreign lands, but also a look at how out-migration can be a ‘trend’ that turns working-class Nepalis into hard-bitten cynics unwilling to work their own land, even when it is available and possible.  <figure><img width="734" height="543" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191120/636bf0384b0ad905ca02effajpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Song of CloudsAnkit Poudel’s film is an ethereal, empathetic, abstract story of life and death shifting from this world to the next as the dead communicate with the living they leave behind. Described as a fever dream, there is no plot or narrative structure to the film. There are long stretches of silence punctuated by sudden disjointed communications about regret and longing. A story without direction or an end told through still photographs.Premiering at Sundance earlier this year and making rounds in <a href="https://www.sundance.org/projects/song-of-clouds" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">festival circuits around the world</a>, Poudel’s film has garnered multiple awards, including the Grand Prix at the Split Film festival in Croatia and the Best Fiction award in Nepal Panorama at KIMFF 2020. <figure><img width="1422" height="794" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191120/636bf03a4b0ad905ca02effbjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The Winter Tap In the hills of Sankhwasabha, a young man has undertaken the solo task of building a water tap that will take water right to his home during the dry winter. Working methodically in silence, he cuts bamboo into pipes and tree branches to prop up the bamboo against. He then cuts strips out of some more bamboo and ties the pipe and the branches to make a long and winding canal wrapped around the hills.  As with Day 33, words are unnecessary, the only sound is the wind blowing across the hills as the man lays his bamboo pipe, the rhythmic thwack of his khukuri as he cuts branches to support his canal, and the final, musical sound of the water flowing through the pipes toward his home. Simple, meaningful, and immensely satisfying, this film by Aashish Limbu and Debin Rai won Best student film at <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/film-southasia-2019/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Film South Asia 2019</a> and was screened during KIMFF 2020. <figure><img width="500" height="260" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191120/636bf03d4b0ad905ca02effcjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The Big-headed Boy<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.idfa.nl/en/film/17008744-6908-4c0a-bbee-b06b148431a6/the-big-headed-boy-shamans-samurais" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Big-Headed Boy, Shamans &amp; Samurais</a> was screened at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam this November. Made by Pooja Gurung and Bibhusan Basnet, award-winning creative minds behind The Contagious Apparitions of Dambarey Dendrite and Dadyaa, the black-and-white travelogue is an account of the filmmakers’ quest to find an actor for their movie. When they do find an actor, the village Shaman is reluctant to let him go.

Shristi Karki

2020 vision

As with all spheres of national life that make up our social and cultural fabric, Nepal’s film industry has also been hit hard. Cinemas are closed, shooting has stopped, and there is even less investment in new movies.As with the global film industry, Nepali producers are also disseminating directly through YouTube and other streaming platforms. Film festivals are being held online.The Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival (KIMFF) <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/business/kimff-2020/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">took place virtually</a> from 10-14 December and had 300 entries this year, out of which 12 films were chosen for the Nepal Panorama and 18 for the international competition.“Because we went virtual, many people outside Nepal were able to see the films, and the number of entries was surprisingly high even given the times we’re in,” KIMFF director Ramyata Limbu told Nepali Times.“If you can’t get people to the hall in terms of logistics and time, doing festivals online in this multimedia era would make it more accessible for people who don’t have the time or inclination to make it to the theatres,” says Limbu. “The more accessible we can make it, the more people will take the time to view independent films.A selection of notable films from 2020: <figure><img width="1920" height="1080" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181152/636be93b9c7e80680e0878abjpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: NISHON SHAKYA</figcaption></figure>The CrematorNishon Shakya’s, documentary which <a href="https://kimff.org/the-cremator/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">premiered at KIMFF</a>, follows elderly cremator Gyan Bahadur, who is nearing the end of his professional life at the Bhasmeshwar ghat at Pashupati. Gyan Bahadur’s narration of his life is accompanied by powerful visuals of cremations at Pashupati. Caution: Viewer Discretion Advised. Shakya is uncompromising in his visuals of the dead, in a way a macabre reminder of the times we live in.  Gyan Bahadur cremates the dead, a cigarette held tight between his lips, discusses politics, offers medical advice, and tells the story of his life. Having himself lost two of his sons in their childhood, Gyan Bahadur says he makes money off other people’s losses. At times, he is scathing about the living, who like to send off their dead with style but have no words of kindness to the people who help them pass on. Surrounded by mortality, he speaks matter-of-factly about his own death, accepting that he will eventually find his way back to Pashupati and move on from this world the same way he helped countless others. <figure><img width="1440" height="645" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181152/636be93f9c7e80680e0878acjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Day 33Filmed in the throes of the Covid-19 lockdown, LSM’s (Sailesh RC) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSFRDsh9kX8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">relevant short film</a> captures a young man’s increasing agitation as he searches for food in his room on the 33rd day of the shutdown. In the barely furnished space, surrounded by empty food containers and an empty wallet, he doesn’t find any. And so, he must settle for anything that he can find within the space that he can move in.The brevity of the film works in its favour — there are no unnecessary drawn-out scenes that attempt to force more meaning or gravitas to the story. There are no dialogues, no angry soliloquies, not one word from the protagonist. The film doesn’t need them. There is just weariness and resignation. <figure><img width="733" height="620" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181152/636be9429c7e80680e0878adjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Come Over for a Drink, Kanchhi Sikuma Rai’s documentary played at the Pame Film Festival, NHRIFF, and KIMFF. <a href="https://festival.kimff.org/nepal-panorama/come-over-for-a-drink-kanchhi/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Come over for a drink, Kanchhi</a> is a deeply personal narrative of the Rai women of Bhojpur for whom alcohol is woven into the fabric of their daily lives. The women sing and smile and drink in groups throughout the film, even as they hold immense sadness within themselves. Weathered by the loss of children and loved ones to disease and suicide, they make and drink alcohol to deal with grief and trauma. Because alcohol is as much a part of ceremony and celebration as much as melancholy, the women are not apologetic about drinking. “There is a big hole in my heart,” says one of the women, who all suffer from depression. In a country where mental health is stigmatised, the film shines a light on how people deal with depression in rural areas. <figure><img width="1991" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181152/636be9449c7e80680e0878aejpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The Snow Leopards CallingTshiring Lhamu Lama was inspired to work for the conservation of snow leopards when she saw how the endangered Himalayan cats were tortured and poisoned by locals in Dolpo in retaliation for killing their livestock. Sonam Choekyi Lama’s award-winning short documentary is <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/trekking-to-save-nepals-snow-leopards/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the story of her sister Tshring’s drive and determination</a> to save and protect a part of her world through snow leopard conservation. Tshiring treks across the freezing, harsh but stunning winter landscape of Phoksundo to capture the movement of Snow Leopards, recognising the importance of the footage for conservation as well as much-needed tourism in the area.The film includes heartbreaking footage of snow leopards being dragged by their tails and kicked by locals into holes in the ground. However, Tshiring’s joy and enthusiasm at having captured snow leopards on film end the visually beautiful documentary on a hopeful, optimistic note. <figure><img width="1600" height="592" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181152/636be9479c7e80680e0878afjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Bare Trees in the MistFilmmaker Rajan Kathet’s Bare Trees in the Mist made its rounds in festivals around the world, including <a href="https://tiff.net/events/bare-trees-in-the-mist" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Toronto in 2019</a>, South Korea, Turkey, Italy, the UK, Finland and India before being screened at home during KIMFF 2020. In this stunning drama, Kaali’s son informs his mother that a neighbour’s husband has returned from abroad bearing gifts for the two of them. Kaali, whose own husband has left home telling his wife that he’s going to Arab (“Which Arab?” her neighbour’s husband asks. Kaali doesn’t know) makes the journey to visit them. Kaali’s tense yet hopeful wait in silence, the choice of aspect ratio, everything adds to the film’s atmosphere, underlying urgency and anxiety of the protagonists. <figure><img width="1440" height="773" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181152/636be9499c7e80680e0878b0jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>BabuIn <a href="http://www.arpafilmfestival.com/short-film-babu-by-eelum-dixit-2020-arpa-iff/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Eelum Mani Dixit’s film</a>, the eponymous Babu finds his village and home torn apart by the 2015 earthquake that takes the life of his mother, and takes his desperate father away to India in search for work. A story of three generations of men in post-earthquake Nepal, the film brims with a young boy’s anger and heartbreak, a father’s helplessness, and a grandfather’s sorrow.Dixit packs a lot of emotion into subtle gestures throughout the film, like when Babu’s father hands him sweets before he leaves for India. Or when Babu gives a marble to the girl he likes-- someone he is probably never going to see again-- as she and her family move away to India. And especially when Babu buys his grandfather, with whom he has a tumultuous relationship, a pen for his journal with the money he had painstakingly saved up working to bring his father back home sooner. The film is not only emblematic of the mass exodus of Nepali men and women to foreign lands, but also a look at how out-migration can be a ‘trend’ that turns working-class Nepalis into hard-bitten cynics unwilling to work their own land, even when it is available and possible.  <figure><img width="734" height="543" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181152/636be94c9c7e80680e0878b1jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Song of CloudsAnkit Poudel’s film is an ethereal, empathetic, abstract story of life and death shifting from this world to the next as the dead communicate with the living they leave behind. Described as a fever dream, there is no plot or narrative structure to the film. There are long stretches of silence punctuated by sudden disjointed communications about regret and longing. A story without direction or an end told through still photographs.Premiering at Sundance earlier this year and making rounds in <a href="https://www.sundance.org/projects/song-of-clouds" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">festival circuits around the world</a>, Poudel’s film has garnered multiple awards, including the Grand Prix at the Split Film festival in Croatia and the Best Fiction award in Nepal Panorama at KIMFF 2020. <figure><img width="1422" height="794" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181152/636be94f9c7e80680e0878b2jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The Winter Tap In the hills of Sankhwasabha, a young man has undertaken the solo task of building a water tap that will take water right to his home during the dry winter. Working methodically in silence, he cuts bamboo into pipes and tree branches to prop up the bamboo against. He then cuts strips out of some more bamboo and ties the pipe and the branches to make a long and winding canal wrapped around the hills.  As with Day 33, words are unnecessary, the only sound is the wind blowing across the hills as the man lays his bamboo pipe, the rhythmic thwack of his khukuri as he cuts branches to support his canal, and the final, musical sound of the water flowing through the pipes toward his home. Simple, meaningful, and immensely satisfying, this film by Aashish Limbu and Debin Rai won Best student film at <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/film-southasia-2019/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Film South Asia 2019</a> and was screened during KIMFF 2020. <figure><img width="500" height="260" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181152/636be9529c7e80680e0878b3jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The Big-headed Boy<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.idfa.nl/en/film/17008744-6908-4c0a-bbee-b06b148431a6/the-big-headed-boy-shamans-samurais" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Big-Headed Boy, Shamans &amp; Samurais</a> was screened at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam this November. Made by Pooja Gurung and Bibhusan Basnet, award-winning creative minds behind The Contagious Apparitions of Dambarey Dendrite and Dadyaa, the black-and-white travelogue is an account of the filmmakers’ quest to find an actor for their movie. When they do find an actor, the village Shaman is reluctant to let him go.

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171144/6369368d9c7e80680e03fde8jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427"/><figcaption>Kiran Joshi at the Incessant Rain studio. Photos: SIKUMA RAI</figcaption></figure>Just when Kiran Joshi was trying to get more business for his Incessant Rain animation studio in Kathmandu ten years ago, one of his artists decided to quit. The reason was lack of support on his career choice from his family. Joshi had to do something, so he announced an Open House in which family and friends of his animators could come and see them at work.More than 175 parents attended the event, and one of them was the mother of the artist who had applied to resign. She had tears in her eyes when she finally found out that her son was not playing video games all day at work.Ever since, open houses have become an annual feature at Incessant Rain, not just to retain existing talent but also to welcome new ones. This year’s Open House had 640 attendees, among whom were prospective artists who wanted to see what is now possible in Nepal through state-of-the-art computer animation.Joshi was encouraged: “This year was the highest turnout yet, and everyone was surprised that we create animation for the latest Hollywood releases.”Indeed, Incessant Rain Animation Studio has moved to a larger studio in Chhauni, employs 140 artists producing animation and VFX projects for Walt Disney Studios, Fox Studios, Universal Network, Paramount, Warner Brothers, Netflix, Amazon, and many others.“Nepal is on the world map for animation production, and that is thanks to the enormous talent pool we have in this country,” says Joshi, who divides his time between California and Kathmandu.Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=15871#.XAjwGNszbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tooned in Nepal</a>, Paavan MathemaThe problem now is retention: how to ensure that gifted Nepali animation artists are not poached by companies in Singapore, Malaysia or India doing similar work. While some have left for good, others have gone to gain more experience and returned to put it to good use back home in Nepal.“Initially it used to annoy me that artists we painstakingly trained left us for jobs abroad,” Joshi confessed, “but I have come to accept that as a given.”Nepal faces stiff competition from Asia’s animation industry. Countries in the region have more human resources and get a big share of the animation projects. But Joshi says his emphasis on quality and reliability has projected <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18786#.XAjwxdszbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Incessant Rain</a> as a world class studio producing high standard animation. The company has so far worked on 94 movies, 124 tv series, 28 commercials, 15 public service announcements, and 10 location based entertainment. Joshi is now confident enough to create original content such as documentaries and fully animated films.In 2015, Incessant Rain produced the documentary Moving Mountains with the British Red Cross on the stories of ten survivors of the 1934 earthquake in eastern Nepal, and showed Dharara tower in Kathmandu collapsing in a future quake. The film was criticised for panic mongering, but within a few months of its release Nepal was struck by the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2015/04/25/massive-earthquake-rattles-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">April 2015 earthquake</a> when the Dharara actually collapsed.Incessant Rain then made a sequel, Moving Mountains, the Awakening in 2017 for the International Red Cross. The film told stories of child survivors and warned of the next Big One so the country <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/past-disasters-foretold/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">can be better prepared</a>.Joshi  plans to organise an animation conference in Kathmandu to tap into young Nepali students with art backgrounds. The studio is also building an animation lab for art experiments and research. Incessant Rain is collaborating with Kathmandu University School of Arts to have animation as an elective course, under its Arts and Design faculty in Hatiban.Says Silicon Valley digital entrepreneur Bijay Niraula: “We need more people like Kiran, who has his feet in both East and West. He has trusted connections in Hollywood, and because he is Nepali, is able to function here.But he has also shown that it is possible to give back to Nepal while doing international work.”<h2>Job satisfaction guaranteed</h2><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171144/636936909c7e80680e03fde9jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Renu Shrestha was planning to move to Australia with her husband when she was training at Incessant Rain in 3D animation. But even as a beginner she worked with dedication and passion, that eventually led her to be promoted to lead an all-male team of five texture artists. Now, she doesn't want to leave her dream job in Nepal to go to foreign land.“At first I had my doubts about managing a team, but we are all professionals and it is the work that binds us,” says Shrestha. “There is a lot of respect for the work we do here, irrespective of gender or age, so I do not regret not going abroad.”Project supervisor Kundan Basnet has been at Incessant Rain since the studio’s beginning, and oversees visual effects and animation projects. Originally from Ilam, Basnet self-taught the basics of animation to himself and now supervises teams from 3D animation as well as VFX.As soon as he gets a script, Basnet sits down with team leaders and breaks the story down into different types of work, resources and expertise required. He is responsible for meeting the client’s expectations.Says Basnet, “The creative satisfaction we get here is amazing. All the work is credited, we get a sense of belonging and everyone is eager to learn.”<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171144/636936939c7e80680e03fdeajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720">

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2020 vision

2020 vision

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