Deepak Rauniyar’s third feature Rajagunj is currently in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-qfx-cinema-needs-a-happy-ending">cinemas</a>, and should be seen for many reasons: it is a solid nail biter, a kidnapping whodunnit, a political thriller with two unconventional, heart wrenching, love stories.
It is also a sharply observed commentary on<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/race-against-time"> race relations</a> that refrains from being overly didactic — a common fault in many political films that alienate the viewer instead of enlightening them.
Internationally aired as Pooja, Sir, the film premiered in 2024 at the Orizzonti section which runs parallel to the main competition at the Venice Film Festival. It has since made its way through the festival circuit to finally open in Nepali cinemas.
However, it suffered a glitch at the hands of the Censor Board which has a history of choosing conservatism over wisdom in what they want to edit out, treating viewers like juveniles and attempting to subvert reality by demanding that real events be redacted.
Thankfully, the film is not hurt much from this interference, though concentration is required to follow the twists and turns of the plot. Without giving too much away, the story involves the seemingly cold-blooded kidnapping of two young boys in the eponymous Rajagunj.
It plays out against the volatile backdrop of the deadly real life protests in 2015 that killed dozens in the Madhes over fury regarding the inadequacies of the new <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-s-contentious-constitution-day">Constitution</a>.
Pooja Thapa (played by the formidable Asha Magrati), a detective inspector from Kathmandu, is sent to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-tarai-s-shrinking-forests">the Tarai</a> in the blistering heat to investigate. One of the young boys is the son of a prominent, local Madhesi politician, the other child is his friend and the offspring of the house-help. One can guess which victim necessitated the dispatch of a high ranking police officer from Kathmandu.
From the beginning Pooja is a compelling enigma, she is forthright and committed, keenly intelligent and a force of nature. She is also stubborn, and occasionally not very sympathetic to her fellow Madhesi colleagues.
There is little humour in the way she is written, the nuances appear thanks to Magrati’s calibrated performance. Pooja is also a lesbian which is hinted at from the very first scene with a shot of her from the back that emphasises her short boy-cut.
Her sexual orientation is further underscored by a slight but intimate scene in the kitchen with Rama, her partner, before she has to leave for Rajagunj.
Rauniyar’s social conscience and investment in the woes of Nepali society has been evident from his first film, Highway (2012) which, while messy, showed he had both heart and brains as he grappled with multiple characters, each conveying a particularly complicated aspect of the everyman’s struggles.
His second feature White Sun or Seto Surya <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/must-see/White-sun-seto-surya-movie-review-2016,3420">(previously reviewed in this paper</a>) came out in 2016, cementing his place as an independent filmmaker and a politically conscious auteur.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/min-bahadur-bham-s-cinematic-quest">Min Bahadur Bham’s cinematic quest</a>, Abishek Budhathoki
Rajagunj shows how far this director has come with a story of a woman who finds herself in an alien city and culture, racing against time to locate two helpless kids, even as she navigates the intensely charged protests in the Madhes as a Pahadi herself, with prejudices further compounded by her own queerness.
There is much that happens in this gritty, urban film that for once does not romanticise or exotify <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/expressing-culture-and-nature-in-eco-art">Nepal’s culture and natural landscape</a> for viewers internally or abroad. There are no rose-tinted lenses or filters here.
The cinematography is matter of fact, precise, brutal when it needs to be, hewing to a script with excellent, natural dialogue that was written by Rauniyar, Magrati (Rauniyar’s partner in life), and David Barker.
Certainly, there are moments when the film seems to have jumped a scene or failed to impart a crucial piece of information, but the acting is moving, and the subject matter so affecting that it is easy to forgive these occasional, technical lapses.
While Magrati’s brave performance anchors the film there are several other substantial performances. Reecha Sharma, plays Sabita Koirala the fair, Pahadi, upper caste wife of the Madhesi politician, and mother of one of the kidnapped boys.
She is also the headmistress of the local, but now suspiciously shuttered, school. Veteran actor Dayahang Rai, also an executive producer of the film, does a fine job portraying Madan, the seemingly mild mannered police captain who oversees Rajagunj.
Nikita Chandak is completely engrossing in her portrayal of Mamata Gupta, a complicated junior Madhesi police officer who slowly comes into her own under Pooja’s rough but wise tutelage.
Politics is ever at work behind and infront of the scenes in Rajagunj, and not everyone is as they initially seem. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/untold-stories-of-unsung-heroes">Women are heroes</a>, anti-heroes, villains, mothers, lovers, and fighters.&nbsp;
Multiple personal and<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Political-theory-versus-reality-federalism,4061"> political realities</a> are portrayed, sometimes simultaneously, and while there are some bizarre leaps of logic, Rauniyar’s virtuoso gift is evident throughout, particularly in set pieces like the one where Pooja and her other trusty sidekick, Inspector Amar, are following Mamata who is forced to stand in for Sabita’s timorous maid as she bravely delivers the shockingly high ransom.
As the people from the region protest their frustration over the inadequacy of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/share-rule-and-self-rule">the new Constitution</a> that was supposed to enshrine the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-s-chance-on-transitional-justice">rights of all Nepalis</a>, not just the fairer skinned ones, Pooja and Amar struggle against the tide of shouting protestors, desperately trying to keep track of Mamata.
Pooja has to do an animal mask to hide her Pahadi origin, Mamata is dressed in a red sari (to imitate the maid) that drapes around her head to hide her face. The atmosphere is tense, pregnant with violence, and our dread is further keyed up by Pooja’s mask, which renders her figure ghoulish, lending the scene a nightmarish quality which is entirely appropriate given the hellish subject matter.
Nepali cinema has evolved over the years, but from the trailers that plied us before Rajagunj and during the intermission, that evolution is still flailing somewhere in-between <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Lights-camera-copy-paste,1146">Bollywood</a> melodrama and skilled, thoughtful verisimilitude, erring mostly toward the former.
Rajagunj is not a perfect film, but it is an admirable one, and will stay with you long after it finishes. It is an important stepstone, one could go so far as to say a vital one, in the journey towards better, more <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/kimff-2019-p8070ipt">meaningful filmmaking</a> in this country.
While this reviewer firmly believes in the power of cinema for pure, unaffected, even silly, mainstream entertainment, cinema is also an <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/a-flowering-artform">art form</a>, and Rauniyar’s film has moments of pure art, motivated by an undaunted spirit, and bolstered by the filmmaker’s own humanity.
Sophia L Pandé is a writer, art historian and filmmaker. She is Director of Development at the Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust and Founding Director of The Kalā Salon.

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Powerful movie upacks questions of identity

There was controlled chaos at the Chhaya Centre on 8 September before the premiere of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2EXOwDgrIg&amp;t=25s">Shambhala</a>, which has made history as the first South Asian film to be selected for the 2023 Berlinale in-competition lineup in three decades. <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5336883/">Director Min Bahadur Bham</a> ran around, dreadlocks flailing, to test the DCP in the projection room and welcome an all-star lineup of guests. Even so, he found time to sit down with us for an interview in a quiet corner in the lobby. Despite visible signs of stress, Bham’s passion for his craft shines through. The premiere was the culmination of years of work, but as Bham tells it, the true essence of filmmaking is the journey itself.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240912100956_fe4bb576edb2f6ca22d460c425a8b9fdf8d3855dd4e9cac9e13fb56a69094cdd.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20240912100956_fe4bb576edb2f6ca22d460c425a8b9fdf8d3855dd4e9cac9e13fb56a69094cdd" data-rendition-name="original" width="616" height="585" loading="lazy" alt="Min Bham NT 3 "> </figure>  Min Bahadur Bham, 40, was born in isolated Mugu. As a boy he already knew he wanted to be a film director after his photographer and journalist father bought a cinema hall in his hometown.&nbsp; While watching Bollywood movies there, his friends all wanted to be actors and would imitate the mannerisms of their favourite stars. But Bham craved something more.&nbsp; “Even back then, I wondered who tells the actors what to do. There must be someone guiding and coordinating their performance,” he says. “I didn’t know at the time that it was done by a director, but I instinctively felt that was the person I wanted to be.”&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/a-director-from-kathmandu">A director from Kathmandu</a>, Sewa Bhattarai This early fascination set Bham on a journey that would take him far, far away from Mugu. In Grade 8 he was already saving money for film school, and by Grade 10 he had run away from home. He started in theatre in Kathmandu, learning acting, lighting, set design, and costume. This theatre background proved to be formative and influenced his later approach to cinema. “If I had to choose, I’d still give more points to theatre,” he tells us. “It’s a pure art form, it has a poetic and an artistic sense to it, requiring discipline and hard work, unlike the finances and glamour of cinema.” Beyond filmmaking, Bham developed a deep interest in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/medication-to-meditation-in-the-mountains">spirituality</a>. “Creating art is a form of meditation,” Bham says, his eyes shimmering with intensity. “Filmmaking, like meditation, requires pouring all of yourself into it.” His debut feature,<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/must-see/Kalo-pothi-review,3101"> Kalo Pothi (The Black Hen)</a> premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2015, earning critical acclaim for its nuanced portrayal of two boys caught in the crossfire of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/all-is-fair-in-war-and-peace">Nepal’s Maoist insurgency</a>. The film’s success, however, left Bham ambivalent.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240912110924_b4333fc1aeefc7adc6160a183f0dfc8ca5ee8cd66df6eab085f47436d83c8c4b.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20240912110924_b4333fc1aeefc7adc6160a183f0dfc8ca5ee8cd66df6eab085f47436d83c8c4b" data-rendition-name="original" width="1442" height="1008" loading="lazy" alt="Movie posters NT"> </figure>  “I felt burdened by the success," he confides. “Looking back, I’m critical about its lack of cinematic language: it felt more like a film essay.”&nbsp; Read more: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Narrating-stories-of-nepal,3082">Narrating Nepal</a>, Smriti Basnet Kalo Pothi was a personal story of Bham’s own memories when his friends in school were joining the Maoists, and he heard of the disappearances. A recurring theme in both Kalo Pothi and Shambhala is childhood. “All the characters in my films are reflections of myself,” Bham confesses. “Of course, they’re manipulated for the sake of the narrative, but their essence is drawn from my own childhood when I was very fragile and introverted.” As a boy, instead of playing with children his age, Bham preferred hanging out with older people, listening to their stories: “I missed out on a normal childhood, but had a wonderful one nonetheless.” These early experiences, the memories and nostalgia, became invaluable storytelling tools for cinema, and his PhD in anthropology was an asset as well. “As a filmmaker, it’s essential to grasp the nuances of human behaviour, culture, and politics,” he explains.&nbsp; Before Kalo Pothi, Bham wanted to study political science to get a &nbsp;deeper, holistic understanding of what was happening in Nepali society at the time.&nbsp; But it is with Shambhala that Bham truly comes into his own as a director. "Kalo Pothi was my love letter to my society, and Shambhala is a love letter to my existence,” he says.&nbsp; Shambhala benefits from Bham’s own spiritual journey. He started meditating at age 12, becoming a more serious practitioner by 15. “Through meditation, I began having vivid recurring dreams of a past life as a lama in a monastery in Dolpo,” he says.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/daughter-of-chomolungma">Daughter of Chomolungma</a>, Pinki Sris Rana He travelled to Dolpo, where the terrain and people matched the dreamscape of the places from his meditation. “It was a surreal moment,” he says. “That’s when I realised I had to make Shambhala, to explore the subconscious and discover what I didn’t know.” When the film was selected for the Berlinale, Bham admits he was not very excited, perhaps because he was confident it was going to go places. In Berlin he did not attend any parties, cancelling all interviews and official meetings.&nbsp; “I wanted to be at peace and simply observe. I didn’t want to get caught up in the networking or the festivities,” he recalls. Though polyandry is a central element of Shambhala, Bham says it only serves as a backdrop to an inner quest into the meaning of existence, femininity and reincarnation. “Dolpo offers such incredible landscape that you can point the camera at anything and it will be stunning,” he says. “But it was not a love story, so I used the mountains as characters themselves.” Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/streaming-the-himalaya-on-film">Streaming the Himalaya on film</a>, Pinki Sris Rana The film’s protagonist is Pema (played by<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-star-shines-in-locarno"> Thinley Lhamo</a> for which she won the<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iCvN6jHVMQ&amp;t=973s"> Boccalino d’Oro Prize for Best Acting Performance at Locarno</a> last month) whose power and freedom challenge patriarchal norms.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240912110944_491763c06fc1827cd131157b9b3750c9831ee8252fb1d378769dc800170c7f67.jpg" data-media-id="editor_13" data-image-id="20240912110944_491763c06fc1827cd131157b9b3750c9831ee8252fb1d378769dc800170c7f67" data-rendition-name="original" width="1080" height="719" loading="lazy" alt="Berlin film festival NT"> </figure>  “Pema’s character is a reflection of inner strength and independence, transcending gender,” Bham explains. “As a male director, I also wanted to explore my feminine side to understand it more deeply.”&nbsp; Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/feminity-to-masculinity,1952">From femininity to masculinity</a>, Bernardo Michael and George Varughese He adds that, in Shambhala the male characters reflect aspects of himself, while Pema represents his feminine side: “Developing the characters, I made sure the male side did not overshadow the feminine side in me.” Bham is researching ideas for his next film which might, for a change, be set in Kathmandu or Angkor Wat to discover his artistic sensibility, irrespective of locale.&nbsp; More than a geographical journey, Min Bahadur Bham is on an artistic voyage deep into his inner being to find the meaning of existence itself. &nbsp; Shambhala is set to release on 13 September in cinemas with Nepali and English subtitles.

Min Bahadur Bham’s cinematic quest

KIMFF 2024 is once again set to gather Nepali and international filmmakers, aficionados, scholars and mountaineers in a celebration of visual storytelling. Given dire warnings of how climate breakdown is affecting the ice caps on the world’s mountains, this year’s festival offers a new sense of urgency under the theme ‘Echoes of Change’. The festival from 29 May-2 June will take place at the Rastriya Sabha Griha and Nepal Tourism Board, featuring over 60 documentaries, fiction, features, and short films from 22 countries, including Nepal, Bhutan, India, Iran, South Korea, Colombia, and Tunisia. The festival’s Nepal Panorama section will showcase almost 30 films about contemporary Nepal by local filmmakers, the largest number Kimff has featured yet. “Kimff’s objective has always been to provide a platform for local stories and talent,” explains festival director Ramyata Limbu. “We hope the filmmakers and audiences will appreciate and enjoy this.”&nbsp; Kimff 2024 will kick off with the Asia Premiere of Italian director Brando Quilici’s The Tiger’s Nest. Filmed on location in Nepal, it follows a young boy embarking on a dangerous cross-country adventure to save a tiger’s cub from poachers. “Hopefully, films like these will open up the space for and spark conversations about more co-productions and collaborations in Nepal,” adds Limbu. The closing documentary on 2 June is No Monastery No Village about mountain people fighting to preserve their community and cultural heritage from a climate-induced disaster. The international jury includes director/producer Dina Mufti from the UK, Nepali anthropologist Suresh Dhakal, and film editor Regina Baertschi from Switzerland. &nbsp;They will pick winners from three shortlisted international feature films, 11 feature documentaries, and 16 fiction films for the Nepal Panorama section, among others. Kimff will also celebrate a century since pioneering attempts on Everest with a film screening and a photo exhibition titled Everest Revisited 1924-2024. It will also mark half a decade of bilateral ties between Nepal and South Korea with the screening of films from Korea’s Ulsan Ulju Mountain Film Festival. This year’s line-up will also include a panel discussion on Women Behind the Camera, screenings and an interactive session titled Championing Young Filmmakers, and a Nepali documentary pitch session by the forum Cut.Katha. Participants can also participate in an editing masterclass with Regina Baertschi. Kimff 2024 is co-hosted by Kathmandu Metropolitan City and promoted by Nepal Tourism Board with support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, the British Council, US Embassy, Film Development Board, Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA), Mila Productions, Pasang Lhamu Foundation, Daya Foundation, Voices of Women Media (VOW), Contemporary Art of Nepal Foundation, Toni Hagen Foundation, Bagmati Communications Registrar, Himalaya International Mountain Film of China (HIMF), GIZ, WWF, ICIMOD, North Face Nepal, and Sonam. &nbsp;&nbsp; <h2>HIGHLIGHTS</h2> <h2>The Tiger’s Nest</h2> 94 min | Italy/Nepal | 2022 Original Language: English Director: Brando Quilici &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240524120520_63b09ce3fbb8a63f27e8e0097631ab6338785b5ac2a4dc748b93d5189c6f2ae7.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20240524120520_63b09ce3fbb8a63f27e8e0097631ab6338785b5ac2a4dc748b93d5189c6f2ae7" data-rendition-name="original" width="1920" height="1012" loading="lazy" alt="Kimff 2024 NT"> </figure>  This opening film is the story of a young orphan named Balmani, who has grown up hearing about the legend of a guru who once flew through the Himalaya on the back of a female tiger. Where he landed, a cave on a sheer cliff, now stands a monastery called The Tiger’s Nest. One night, Balmani saves a tiger cub from the clutches of evil poachers and makes for the Tiger’s Nest, which he believes will be a safe haven. With the smugglers in hot pursuit, the boy and cub travel from the lush grasslands of central Nepal, through the chaos of Kathmandu, and into the high Himalaya, forming an unbreakable bond along the way. <h2>Andro Dreams</h2> 63 min | India | 2023 Original Language: Manipuri Director: Meena Longjam  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240524120520_d5e6c25f326dbd602325c706a3be1d451ceec3f92cfc6c455125bc7ad008d0fa.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20240524120520_d5e6c25f326dbd602325c706a3be1d451ceec3f92cfc6c455125bc7ad008d0fa" data-rendition-name="original" width="1621" height="1080" loading="lazy" alt="Kimff 2024 NT"> </figure>  This is the story of a love affair between the spirited Laibi and her all girls' football club in a village in rural northeast India. Laibi’s club battles economic challenges, the patriarchy, and orthodoxy. Andro Dreams was the opening film for the non-feature section at the International Film Festival of India 2023. <h2>कुलैं तौल कुछ नि जमदु (Nothing Grows Under The Pine Trees)</h2> 32 min | India | 2023 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Original Language: Garhwali Director: Sachin Rana&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240524120520_20729c87454d7e3c1e6b13c0427d6cbb61b29796251d861e5f0120b786719f1a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20240524120520_20729c87454d7e3c1e6b13c0427d6cbb61b29796251d861e5f0120b786719f1a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1663" height="1080" loading="lazy" alt="Kimff 2024 NT"> </figure>  In the hills of India’s Uttarakhand state live two sisters. The elder is pragmatic while the younger one is given to flights of fancy. When their parents deem that their firstborn daughter has crossed a line that would make her an outcast in society, they begin to make arrangements for her marriage. Her younger sister mistakenly comes to believe that she is the one whose wedding is planned. Nothing Grows Under The Pine Trees is the saga of a people who disguise their prejudice as tradition. <h2>Climbing For Gold</h2> 22 min | Belgium/ United States | 2024 Original Language: Dutch/ English Director: Vincent Groos &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240524120520_ed33d46e5907f2edd82423f7d50d4479451fcf9975622e682f6008aa08eb47c8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20240524120520_ed33d46e5907f2edd82423f7d50d4479451fcf9975622e682f6008aa08eb47c8" data-rendition-name="original" width="1920" height="1080" loading="lazy" alt="Kimff 2024 NT"> </figure>  Vincent Groos’ documentary follows paraclimber Fré Leys as he trains for and competes in the 2023 Paraclimbing World Championships in Salt Lake City. Climbing for Gold explores Leys’ unrelenting training regimen, the bureaucracy of sports, and his competitors. It is a celebration of hard work, determination, and the human spirit. <h2>My Radio My Life</h2> 68 min | India | 2023 Original Language: English/ Hindi/ Marathi Directors: Bidit Roy, Makarand Waikar&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240524120520_d3b926ef391f6f96f84594575f133776010a981d18d31e15b8306e7bc15a60f5.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20240524120520_d3b926ef391f6f96f84594575f133776010a981d18d31e15b8306e7bc15a60f5" data-rendition-name="original" width="1895" height="1068" loading="lazy" alt="Kimff 2024 NT"> </figure>  Set in the 21st century, the film revisits the golden era of radio in India through people whose lives were shaped by the medium. Some of the cast of characters include a former announcer for Voice of America who broadcasted the Apollo 11 moon landing; a woman who found her calling, and later a life partner, through radio; an octogenarian who is determined to bring his treasured valve radio set back to life; a man who restores radios and displays them in his museum; and a woman who overcomes her conservative family through her passion for HAM radio. <h2>A Childless Village</h2> 82 min | Iran | 2022 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Original Language: Azerbaijani Director: Reza Jamali  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240524120528_f83f6b93f0e30cffff2d488bda7a7caaad06c3fe12ae9b011208efb0ab7f7446.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20240524120528_f83f6b93f0e30cffff2d488bda7a7caaad06c3fe12ae9b011208efb0ab7f7446" data-rendition-name="original" width="1080" height="720" loading="lazy" alt="Kimff 2024 NT"> </figure>  Two decades ago, an elderly filmmaker named Kazem made a documentary about women in a remote Azeri village, all of whom are childless. The women stole and burned the footage, but 20 years later, it emerges that it is actually the men in the village who are infertile. Determined to complete his project this time, Kazem heads back to ask new questions. <h2>The Whispers of a Qareen</h2> 15 min | India | 2024 Original Language: Hindi Director: Maaria Sayed  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240524120520_7e192e35e6ad30732c87893324dc91d38859e85d69ff5f86901ba83f155a186f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20240524120520_7e192e35e6ad30732c87893324dc91d38859e85d69ff5f86901ba83f155a186f" data-rendition-name="original" width="1920" height="942" loading="lazy" alt="Kimff 2024 NT"> </figure>  12-year-old Jahaan is visited by something strangely familiar in her Himalayan village. Her new companion gradually reveals its true identity. As the days blur, games played in wild playgrounds and trivial gossip passed back and forth among friends in the shadow of the holy tree near her home begin to feel distant. It is almost as if the world around her is disappearing. <h2>Arkesta</h2> 18 min | Nepal | 2023 &nbsp;&nbsp; Original Language: Nepali Director: Safal Pandey  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240524120520_aa42543291b9d3782fc4f7a2b23021e6572d6715e97657b662b2c2c2f5f3c44a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20240524120520_aa42543291b9d3782fc4f7a2b23021e6572d6715e97657b662b2c2c2f5f3c44a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1497" height="1080" loading="lazy" alt="Kimff 2024 NT"> </figure>  As a single father, Gokul’s world tilts on its axis when one day, he sees his son dance in a feminine manner in public. Gokul then commits to changing how his child conducts himself in order to protect his reputation in his community. In the process, Gokul learns more about the different facets of his son’s personality. <h2>No Monastery No Village</h2> 27 min | Nepal | 2024 &nbsp;&nbsp; Original Language: Tibetan Director: Tashi Lhazom  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240524120520_e50992e83393095fa21e994ffac52c476c5ec81067ed6c7fa8ae8e5cc678c7ad.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20240524120520_e50992e83393095fa21e994ffac52c476c5ec81067ed6c7fa8ae8e5cc678c7ad" data-rendition-name="original" width="1133" height="586" loading="lazy" alt="Kimff 2024 NT"> </figure>  Nestled in the shadow of a glacial lake in the Himalaya lies Halzi village, home to the ancient Halzi Rinchenling Monastery, the cornerstone of Humla’s cultural heritage for centuries. It now faces a growing threat from a glacial lake upstream. A poignant exploration of faith, resilience and the fight to preserve a way of life in the face of climate change, the documentary follows villagers caught between deep devotion to their heritage and impending disaster.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240524120520_f9f4b3983e17ce8cf0285e0fbb4ee96161ef84d3784a34a28f6465bd760b9bc8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20240524120520_f9f4b3983e17ce8cf0285e0fbb4ee96161ef84d3784a34a28f6465bd760b9bc8" data-rendition-name="original" width="1241" height="665" loading="lazy" alt="Kimff 2024 NT"> </figure>  21st Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival Rastriya Sabha Griha and Nepal Tourism Board, Pradarsani Marga, Kathmandu 29 May-2 June 2024 For the complete festival line-up, visit the <a href="https://kimff.org">website</a>.

Kimff turns 21

A Flushing Local 7 subway train approaches the platform and commuters get ready to step in. The scene cuts to solid black. These first few seconds set the tone for the rest of Diversity Plaza — this is going to be a film &nbsp;about people in motion. Movement through time and space is something of a trademark for acclaimed documentary maker Kesang Tseten, with previous films like In Search of the Riyal, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=13035">We Corner People</a>, Castaway Man and Frames of War. <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Kesang-Tseten-documentary-on-Dor-Bahadur-Bista,2176">Some of these films</a> will be screened in a retrospective this weekend.&nbsp; For the next minute or so, Diversity Plaza shows us beauty parlours and nail salons, a kabab king, street vendors, a Covid-19 vaccine centre and a momo van.&nbsp; We are in Jackson Heights in the New York borough of Queens. A subtitle tells us it is ‘the most linguistically diverse zip code in the US and perhaps the world’. Queens is home to 75,000 immigrants from Nepal, Bhutan and India. More than 60% of the people here are foreign-born and speak 160 languages. They are politically aware, and concerned about their place in a changing America, and an altered world. There is an intersection in Queens actually named Diversity Plaza, and Tseten films immigrants campaigning for candidates for city council amidst the Covid crisis, while there are attacks on Asians after President Trump called the bug the “Chinese Virus”. Near the Plaza in a nondescript building is Adhikaar which works for the rights of Nepali immigrants. &nbsp;Among them is Dibya Shori Shakya, who ever so slowly writes her name and address on the board. A group of women gathers to talk about being ashamed initially of their status as domestic help and nannies. “The children we raise will go on to become doctors, engineers or even presidents someday. So we shouldn’t feel lowly or discriminate against ourselves,” says one woman. United Sherpa Association Inc may sound like a mountaineering outfit, but is a monastery. After prayers, devotees do yoga. Some asana are too difficult, and they burst out laughing.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024022304020_dc3c87201c606792b8980dbb7203eb88332eebf015f4e3a638a74c9c11a780b0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2024022304020_dc3c87201c606792b8980dbb7203eb88332eebf015f4e3a638a74c9c11a780b0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1426" height="750" loading="lazy" alt="Diversity Plaza"> <figcaption>Screengrab from Kesang Tseten's Diversity Plaza</figcaption> </figure>  This is an intimate look at Himalayan peoples living in Jackson Heights, their struggles and aspirations. Some are busy celebrating festivals and keeping traditions alive, others try to assimilate and are more concerned with making their voices heard in their new country. Adhikaar staff are out on the streets of New York including at Times Square in Manhattan, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-promise-of-an-american-dream">advocating for immigrant rights</a>. They are also urging fellow Nepalis to fill up census applications. “Census means numbers. What happens when there are numbers? Power, and when there is power, there is wealth… when there is wealth there is respect and when there is respect, there is recognition,” Narbada Chettri of Adhikaar explains on camera. During the film’s hour-long runtime, viewers in Nepal are transported to the other side of the world, almost forgetting that the scenes are happening on a screen. The cuts are rough, almost cinéma vérité style, unlike some of the sleeker films being made today. Tseten does not embellish the stories, the landscape, the people. Like his previous documentaries, the film lays bare the raw reality of immigrant life in America.&nbsp; <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/kesang-tseten-is-still-silent-but-not-absent">The director</a> himself takes a back seat, his inputs barely discernible. But of course he is there throughout in the composition of the shots, selection of scenes, the final edits. Tseten calls it an ‘unprompted’ style modelled after American filmmaker Frederick Wiseman. Even though there is no script in Diversity Plaza, the documentary still has a beginning, middle and an end. In Kathmandu this week, Tseten recalled how he was in New York in 2021, trying to persuade a character for his forthcoming film on the<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/bon-voyage"> Bön Po</a>, when he heard about Diversity Plaza with its strong Nepali presence. He was familiar with Jackson Heights ever since he was a student at Columbia Journalism School in the 1980s, and it piqued his attention. “Diversity Plaza is like Thamel,” he says. “The restaurants are filled with our own people.” The documentary ends on a high note, literally and figuratively. An immigrant from India performs a Karnatak song as the 7 train clatters above Diversity Plaza. She translates the verse into English before singing its original: “Do not seek or mind similarity in identity in the world. Why is it that we always look for the things that are the same about one another instead of celebrating and valuing our differences?” &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024022304020_d5d5a26acda7234986e3edbd6f7dc593b10ecdeaf2f4178880249381d5371ec2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="2024022304020_d5d5a26acda7234986e3edbd6f7dc593b10ecdeaf2f4178880249381d5371ec2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1135" height="635" loading="lazy" alt="Diversity Plaza"> </figure>  Social Science Baha and photo.circle's Kesang Tseten Retrospective will take place from 23 to 25 February at Nepal Tourism Board.

Sonia Awale

Seeking identity in diversity

In June, Rajan Kathet and Sunir Pandey’s No Winter Holidays premiered at the Sheffield DocFest, one of Britain’s biggest documentary festivals. The film was supported by South Korea’s DMZ Docs Industry Project Fund and the Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum. In feature films, Fidel Devkota’s The Red Suitcase was nominated for world premier at the Venice International Film Festival and Nabin Subba’s A Road to a Village got into the Toronto International Film Festival. Nepali films and filmmakers are going places, and many have been able to find their way into international labs, forums, pitches and events. Documentary films have also been doing well, but the challenge is to run and sustain the market for non-fiction film. That was a theme of a brain-storming last month of film festival organisers, government bodies, international agencies and independent filmmakers. The conversation first explored the lack of resources and probed ways in which the government and private institutions could promote the film industry.&nbsp; The two hour discussion at the British Council did not just highlight problems, but also identified possible solutions to push the Nepali documentary market to a new direction. &nbsp; While Nepal enjoys good repute internationally, participants felt it was time for private and government agencies to foster a market for documentary film within Nepal. &nbsp;&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/kesang-tseten-is-still-silent-but-not-absent">Kesang Tseten is still silent, but not absent</a>, Sonia Awale Despite noteworthy non-fiction films in the past few years, every documentary maker has had to work from scratch. For this, international fora have become the go-to for funds, due to their ease of access.&nbsp; The catch: competition is stiff and there are many who vie for the few prizes. Success depends on what international viewers want to see and can relate to. This audience is not familiar with the nuances of the Nepali world, and the fate of films thus is determined by its relevance to a world far removed from Nepal. International funds and programs have played an important role in encouraging Nepali documentary makers, but the time has come for Nepali support for Nepali filmmakers. Kathmandu Metropolitan City recently handed an application for the UNESCO Creative Cities Network with ‘film’ as its main component. If the city gets the title, that would be perfect timing.&nbsp; But even if it does not, it proves that the government is serious about investing in films and filmmakers. This could translate into grants for film production.&nbsp; Even Nepal Tourism Board, with its active social media presence and sizeable contributions to film festivals in Nepal, sees opportunities in films. 14 Peaks: Nothing is impossible on Netflix was an example of how the combined interests of several agencies can be pooled to create an adventure documentary that played a big role in boosting tourism in Nepal. The broadcast media remains a largely untapped medium to encourage documentary makers. Internationally, it has been tv networks and their digital subsidiaries who actively commission documentaries.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/news/documenting-the-subcontinent-for-a-generation">Documenting the Subcontinent for a generation</a>, Aria Shree Parasai  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230908040952_dbce52ad621f6831023cd5fe7dd4db741cc5ea29eaebe3396c4840ec3bde315c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20230908040952_dbce52ad621f6831023cd5fe7dd4db741cc5ea29eaebe3396c4840ec3bde315c" data-rendition-name="original" width="4320" height="2880" loading="lazy" alt="Page 1"> </figure>  Al Jazeera Witness’s What’s behind caste violence in Nepal? and BBC World Service’s Nepal: The battle for souls are examples of how these commissions have come closer to home. The broadcast media is sustained by advertising. But, while revenue is important, content is still king when it comes to building brands and identity. Herne Katha, for example, is proof of how personal stories not only captivate but move audiences.&nbsp; Viewers are now seeking content online, and film commissioning could also make the most of this opportunity to re-brand and fund documentaries that resonate with Nepali audiences. Nepal’s tv channels could lead the way by producing content for the diaspora who are hungry for stories from home. Tv, with its access to a network of in-country journalists with powerfully distinctive stories could be drivers of audio-visual content.&nbsp; Investing in creative story-tellers to create viewership could persuade advertisers to see value in investing in non-fiction film which will ultimately enrich the ecosystem for Nepali documentaries.&nbsp; Participants at the brainstorming included representatives from the Film Development Board, Film South Asia (FSA), Human Rights International Film Festival, Independent Filmmaker’s Society, Kantipur Television, Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival, Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Nepali Female Filmmakers, Nepal Tourism Board and the US Embassy.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/awakening-documentary-nepal-filmfestivals,794">Awakening documentary</a>, Mallika Aryal The group concluded that there is willingness to fund content and buy content, but what is lacking are linkages between filmmakers and viewers. Watching habits are shifting to reels made for TikTok and YouTube. Should supporters of films give the audience what viewers want, or what they need? It has become imperative to understand what the audience wants, and to be where the viewers are. Perhaps not enough is being done to create avenues for audiences to explore documentaries. ‘Dumbing down content’ is an ongoing discussion, but it may be time to encourage culture of documentaries with its point-of-view human interest approach. The enthusiastic participation of Nepalis at documentary festivals is proof that there is already a critical mass of viewers interested in the non-fiction film format. Film education schools and societies can be mobilised for an even wider audience engagement.&nbsp; As pointed out in the discussion, this could be achieved through showings and documentary appreciation sessions, where film organisations can inculcate a sense of a community of documentary lovers. The Film Development Board should now work to create these linkages between local commissioners and filmmakers. They could support bigger film grants and ensure that financing is hassle-free. This could be a viable way to give Nepali documentaries a boost within Nepal in a flavour that audiences here understand best.&nbsp; The future for films lies in local government bodies, film organisations and the industry working together to support and create a platform to sustain a culture for documentary viewing. Read also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Manakamana-review-David-Gellner,1949">How not to make a documentary</a>, David N Gellner Smriti Basnet is a filmmaker and runs Kathaharu, a production company based in Kathmandu. <h2>Nepali films in Busan Fesitval</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230908040952_4384a408232a10f0e28b8dacf74d9f7ccc84b76f8b60feea2065f2410d315209.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20230908040952_4384a408232a10f0e28b8dacf74d9f7ccc84b76f8b60feea2065f2410d315209" data-rendition-name="original" width="1250" height="626" loading="lazy" alt="Page 9"> </figure>  Three Nepali films have been selected for the Busan Festival in South Korea from 4-13 October. Gaun Aayeko Bato (A Road to a Village) directed by Nabin Subba is being screened for the first time at the ongoing 48th Toronto International Festival. The film featuring actors Dayahang Rai, Pashupati Rai and Prasan Rai tells a story of how a new road in the village changes father-son relations.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230908040952_6e1bf726df21f6966f765b1789ce607685f9398088656931b22e06ff77d16570.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20230908040952_6e1bf726df21f6966f765b1789ce607685f9398088656931b22e06ff77d16570" data-rendition-name="original" width="1250" height="704" loading="lazy" alt="Page 9"> </figure>  Gaun Aayeko Bato will be screened under the ‘Window on Asian Cinema’ category at Busan. “I believe this will help in globalising our films,” says Subba. Guras directed by Saurav Rai has also been selected for Busan. First screened at Karlovy Vary International Film in the Czech Republic, Guras is a story from the perspective of a 10-year-old girl who sets out in search of her missing hen against the economic and social backdrop of Darjeeling. Tulsi Khawas and Kagendra Lamichanne play the leads.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230908040956_182d6917bb62faf46ac7bfabe19373f2af07f38cbda241ebac7cd5d12f71233f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20230908040956_182d6917bb62faf46ac7bfabe19373f2af07f38cbda241ebac7cd5d12f71233f" data-rendition-name="original" width="1250" height="782" loading="lazy" alt="Page 9"> </figure>  “Our films being selected for international films means they like our unique identity. We are being screened at prestigious film festivals like Venice, Busan and Toronto, this is a matter of great pride,” says Lamichhane. The Witness Tree, a documentary by Niranjan Bhetwal, has been selected to be screened under Busan’s Asian documentary category.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/lights-camera-action-in-nepal">Lights, Camera, Action in Nepal</a>, Ashish Dhakal

Documentary films come of age

On Tuesday, leader of the monarchist RPP once again gathered on Kathmandu’s streets to deliver fiery speeches, but this time there was no arson and looting and no need for riot police to fire live rounds or tear gas.
RPP leaders demanded the release of their members including vice-president Rabindra Mishra and MP Dhawal Shamsher Rana were arrested during the violent <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/republicans-and-royalists-on-nepal-s-streets">28 March protests at Tinkune </a>which left two dead. 
They denounced the current leadership of the main parties, demanding the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/nepal-party-reincarnating-hindu-monarchy">restitution of Nepal as a Hindu kingdom</a>. They also said the government was responsible for the fatalities on 28 March because it provoked its rally with a tear gas attack even before it started.
It has now been revealed that the police fired at least 100 live rounds from high powered assault rifles at the crowd. Twenty-one of the 120 injured received bullet wounds, and most of them were bystanders and people trying to reach home. 
Tuesday protest on the Ring Road in Balkhu was much more subdued, and comparatively fewer RPP supporters showed up. The arson and vandalism in the previous protest appears to have cost some support for <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-ghost-of-monarchy-returns-to-haunt-nepal">former king Gyanendra </a>especially for the anointment of medical tycoon and bank defaulter <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/street-politics">Durga Prasai </a>as ‘commander’ of the Tinkune rally.
Some monarchists acknowledge Gyanendra’s mistakes when was king 2001-2008, but say he has had a lot of time to reflect on his shortcomings and seems more disciplined and committed. His supporters have tried to build on nostalgia among some Nepalis for<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/why-invest-in-nepal"> domestic stability </a>and international respect that <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/if-birendra-was-alive-nepal-could-still-be-a-monarchy">the monarchy</a> commanded. 
“Nepalis were promised better service delivery, opportunities for the underserved, as well as better, more honest use of state resources, but the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=16992">people in leadership </a>have not been able to deliver on their commitments,” says RPP leader Prakash Chandra Lohani. “The gap between their rhetoric and reality has widened, the people feel betrayed, and the respect Nepali people had previously had for them has changed to revulsion.” 
Indeed, many commentators have warned the three main parties and their <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/politics-as-usual">serial prime ministers</a> who have ruled Nepal for much of the past 30 years should address rising public anger with them, and see the writing on the wall.
‘<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-government-changes-again">The UML, NC and Maoists</a> must introspect about their conduct,” warns Gunaraj Luitel, editor of Nagarik, in an op-ed this week. ‘These leaders for life may save themselves from simmering public anger, but they will not be able to save the system. The monarchist wave can only be dispelled when citizens are assured of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-local-election-gives-power-back-to-people">better governance</a> through <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/latest/real-world-training-for-youth-leaders">younger leaders</a>, and reforms.’ 
Rifts between radical royals who are gunning for a return to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/mob-movement-and-mayhem">Panchayat-style absolutism </a>and moderate monarchists who favour a constitutional king have also weakened the movement somewhat. The split between the RPP and RPP-Nepal cost the royalists numbers in Parliament in 2022, and both parties denounced the violence last month, albeit shifting the blame on the government.
The irony is that the same royalists who want to scrap the republican Constitution had formed electoral alliances with the UML during the 2022 elections. RPP-Nepal chair Kamal Thapa contested the 2022 election with the UML. Thapa has not taken part in the last two rallies, saying he will only be a part of a movement under a national flag, and not a RPP party banner.
For his part, the RPP’s Rajendra Lingden is said to be hesitant to censure some of his party’s more radical royalists for fear of fissure within his ranks, despite his aversion to Durga Prasai’s role. 
Analysts have questioned why <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/old-is-still-gold-in-nepali-politics">supporters of the monarchy </a>have decided to reestablish an institution that would not ultimately have executive decision-making power. There are doubts about whether authoritarian-minded Gyanendra will be satisfied being a <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=13957">ceremonial king</a>. 
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-s-deja-vu-on-black-friday">Nepal’s déjà vu on Black Friday</a>, Sonia Awale
"The Nepali people will not accept <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/forgotten-woman-who-sheltered-communist-activists">an absolute monarchy </a>at this point of time, and both the public as well as <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=8371">king Gyanendra</a> are fully aware that there is no other possibility beyond a constitutional monarchy," asserts the RPP’s Lohani. “The traditional monarchy’s institutional capacity might have been enough to meet the needs of feudal Nepal, but an absolute monarchy is impossible both in concept and practice in the context of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/Economic-Class/waiting-for-an-industrial-revolution,784">modern day Nepal</a>.”

New year revolutions

Besides multiple <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/republicans-and-royalists-on-nepal-s-streets">street demonstrations </a>that gridlocked Kathmandu’s traffic for the past weeks, public discourse in Nepal has also been dominated by dangerously <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/air-pollution-is-more-dangerous-than-smoking">high air pollution levels</a>. Caused mostly by hundreds of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/wildfire-season-starts-early-in-nepal">forest fires </a>raging across the country, the smoke contains suspended soot particles that harms <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/playing-with-poison">human health</a>. Thursday’s rain have cleared the air somewhat, and many people will soon forget how bad the air quality was. But the time to address the roots of next summer’s fire season is now.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250411060440_d1a119716a9031aadfdd611d299348d436842d376a03e664b8d773957a237524.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20250411060440_d1a119716a9031aadfdd611d299348d436842d376a03e664b8d773957a237524" data-rendition-name="original" width="502" height="540" loading="lazy" alt="Wildfires"> <figcaption>EXTINGUISHED: Forest fires raging all over Nepal in the week after 3 March (above) reduced air quality, creating a public health hazard in Kathmandu and across the country. Each red dot is a fire detected by infrared sensors on the NASA Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) satellite. But the rain on Thursday doused most of the fires (below) with more rain forecast over the weekend.</figcaption> </figure>  The reason everyone was talking about air pollution was because the<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-is-going-up-in-smoke"> smoke from wildfires</a> was visible. But much more toxic are the invisible and odourless <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-doubles-its-carbon-footprint">gases from vehicular and industrial emissions </a>which have always been there. The theme of World Health Day on 7 April this week was ‘Healthy Beginnings, Hopeful Futures’ dedicated to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/saving-more-mothers-and-babies">preventing maternal and newborn deaths</a>. It is estimated that in Nepal, 30% of neonatal mortality can be blamed on air pollution. But that is only part of the story. Harmful as fine particulate matter is to human health, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, ground-level ozone and other gases in vehicular emissions are more hazardous to health. While the concentration of suspended particulate matter tinier than 1.5 microns (PM2.5) is closely monitored, these toxic gases are invisible, not measured much, and the public is not aware about the dangers they pose. Surface ozone is produced by the interaction of various gases found when <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/fossil-fuels-poison-air">burning fossil fuels</a>. Besides being poisonous, ground level ozone contributes up to 0.23°C to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-mountains-are-melting">global warming</a> because it is also a greenhouse gas. A new policy brief by the Clean Air Fund titled The Case for Action on Tropospheric Ozone blames surface ozone for a half a million premature deaths every year, 54.8% of which are in South Asia. Ozone also stunts plant growth and reduces crop yields by 26% globally, and 11% loss in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/economic-benefits-of-saving-the-ecology">forest productivity</a>, the report adds.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250411060456_aa02a923f8b27544ae54d0220162678f5bbb5eeb8fc3c466173c22c49b3e9a85.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20250411060456_aa02a923f8b27544ae54d0220162678f5bbb5eeb8fc3c466173c22c49b3e9a85" data-rendition-name="original" width="998" height="724" loading="lazy" alt="Gas Chambers"> </figure>  Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/bad-air-and-polluted-politics">Bad air and polluted politics</a>, Sonia Awale Ground-level ozone is not emitted directly into the air like other gases, but is formed when oxides of nitrogen (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released from automobile tailpipes or industry smokestacks react chemically with each other in the presence of sunlight. The main source of carbon monoxide in Kathmandu Valley are its 1.2 million two-wheelers. “Usually the concentration of carbon monoxide is 200-500 parts per billion (ppb), this has increased up to 3,000 in Kathmandu. Meanwhile, ground-level ozone has gone from 70-80 ppb to 150 ppb,” says Ravi Sahu, regional air quality specialist with the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).&nbsp; Sahu says <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/no-smoke-without-fire-p7vb9dcj">rampant forest fires of the past weeks</a> have also added to carbon monoxide and ozone in the air, not just the fine particles that make up the visible smoke. He adds, “There isn’t much awareness about <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/poisoning-the-air-we-breathe">ground-level ozone and carbon monoxide</a>, we need to urgently look into it.” A distinction must be made between good and bad ozone. Stratospheric ozone protects living beings from harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun.&nbsp; Tropospheric ozone can again be separated into two types: ozone in the free atmosphere which is a greenhouse gas much more potent than carbon dioxide, and ground-level ozone which has adverse impacts on health and agriculture. ‘Cutting tropospheric ozone presents a unique challenge as it requires smart and fast action across multiple greenhouse gases and air pollutants, as well as multiple economic sectors,’ notes the Clean Air Fund's policy briefing. ‘It is a growing and neglected problem that needs an integrated approach on both a local and global level to tackle climate change and air pollution together.’ Dying young There was a time when Nepal made it to international news bulletins only if there were fatalities on Mt Everest. Now, Kathmandu’s bad air frequently makes headlines all over the world. This past week, the concentration of PM2.5 that harms human health was up to 40 times the WHO recommended guideline — adding to the poisonous gases already present from vehicle emissions. The Department of Environment says 40% of the pollution in the past weeks was from wildfires sparked by nearly 6 months without substantial rain over central Nepal. Most of the rest is from vehicular and industrial emissions from Kathmandu itself and across the southern border. NASA’s Fire Information and Resource Management System (FIRMS) which issues daily maps of fires, showed hundreds of blazes raging across Nepal on Wednesday, mainly in Chitwan, Parsa and along the East-West Highway.&nbsp; “If we look at the figures for the last few years, it is clear that wildfires have become the biggest source of air pollution, they are seasonal but have overtaken vehicular emissions,” says urban planner and environmentalist Bhushan Tuladhar. “Forest fires, stubble burning, and open burning of garbage are the bigger problems now. Nepal, India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan are at risk every year, we shouldn’t further delay in finding solutions,” warned air quality expert Bhupendra Das during an event on air pollution organised on 7 March by the Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists (NEFEJ).&nbsp; Indeed, studies have shown that in winter 60% of the air pollution over Kathmandu is transboundary from the south, and in November it is compounded by smoke from crop residue burning by farmers in India and Pakistan blown in by prevailing winds. Forest fires are a regular pre-monsoon occurrence in Nepal, often intentionally set by farmers and herders to stimulate new grass growth for livestock. Winter rains have failed for eight of the past ten years, and this means the fires often spread out of control. The other reason for the increase in wildfires is the doubling of forest fires to 46% of the country’s area in the past 25 years. But this has happened simultaneously with outmigration, with some mountain districts losing 30% of their population between 2011-2021. With less pressure on forests for fodder and firewood, the undergrowth of community forests is loaded with dry fuel just waiting for a spark. The bowl-shaped topography of Kathmandu, Pokhara and other valleys further concentrates pollutants as they are trapped by surrounding mountains. But a year with a high number of wildfires is usually followed by a year or two with fewer incidents. For example: there were 6,537 fires in 2021 but the following year the number was down to 1,528. There were 5,216 fires last year, this year the number has already reached 1,800, and the trend is likely to be broken. Heavy rains forecast for the coming days are expected to douse some of the fires and clean up the air. But the damage has been done: Kathmandu residents of all age groups this week crowded clinics and hospitals with burning eyes, itchy throats, difficulty breathing, headaches, and dizziness. But in the longer term, soot particles that are tiny enough to jump the blood-air divide in lung capillaries do not just cause Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), asthma, but also cancers, heart attacks, strokes, birth defects and other chronic diseases. The latest Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) report by the University of Chicago shows that the annual concentration of PM2.5 in Kathmandu’s air rose from 17.87µg/m3 in 1998 to 31.33µg/m3 in 2022. Air pollution has got worse by 75% in Kathmandu in 25 years. During this time, air pollution has reduced the average life expectancy of Kathmandu’s residents by 3.5 years. According to the Health Effects Institute in Boston, dirty air is among the biggest public health concerns in Nepal killing over 42,100 a year. The adverse impact of high levels of air pollution is not limited to public health, it is seriously affecting tourism. Operators in Pokhara this week said that there were many negative online posts by visitors unable to see the famous panorama of Machapuchre and the Annapurnas even from Sarangkot. Aviation is also affected, as planes have to circle sometimes for hours burning a lot of fuel because of runway visibility being below minima at Kathmandu airport. The higher fuel cost is just passed down to customers, making air tickets in and out of Kathmandu some of the highest in the world. Kathmandu, with a population of four million, has not implemented a concrete policy to curb toxic air despite having formulated various action plans and repeated commitments by the government to protect the environment and control air pollution. The Department of Environment’s 2017 Air Quality Management Action Plan for Kathmandu put forward a policy to reduce air pollution caused by vehicles which was approved by the Cabinet, but has yet to be put to practice. The action included the immediate implementation of the Euro 5 emission standard to reduce pollution emitted by vehicles. However, Nepal has not even been able to implement Euro 4 standards so far. India, meanwhile, has already moved forward with the implementation of the Euro 6 standards. Says Ravi Sahu: “Air pollution in Nepal is not just about air pollution, it has ties to tourism, aviation, the economy so we must be prepared for annual conditions like forest fires, and this requires urgent interdisciplinary collaboration.” &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250411050452_821d09e283d8a590f1369bfb71b9b7fc6d950726e0651ea86c6488d04deb1742.jpg" data-media-id="editor_15" data-image-id="20250411050452_821d09e283d8a590f1369bfb71b9b7fc6d950726e0651ea86c6488d04deb1742" data-rendition-name="original" width="839" height="784" loading="lazy" alt="Silent Killers"> </figure>  &nbsp;

What is invisible is more dangerous

Here in the mountains of far-western Nepal, the biggest threat to life and limb is gravity. Women collecting fodder fall from trees, boys grazing goats fall off cliffs, heavily loaded tractors plunge from dirt roads carved out of steep slopes. There is nothing to be done about those who die on the spot. But for the severely wounded there is only one hospital: Bayalpata. And it is there that <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJzWlnYd0ZM&amp;t=8s" target="_blank">orthopaedic surgeon Mandeep Pathak</a> is the last hope for many wounded people. Pathak, 42, is too modest to tell us how many lives he has saved over the past 10 years he has worked at Bayalpata. But hospital records show he has performed more than 4,000 operations in the past decade, many of them so patients did not suffer permanent physical disabilities. Pathak also did 800 major life-saving surgeries in that time. “I treat patients with injuries, but I wish I could also treat poverty,” Pathak says, emerging from Bayalpata’s surgical theatre one recent afternoon. <div class="embed-block"><iframe width="700" height="415" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CJzWlnYd0ZM?si=s_rkbU4YDaw87gqH" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div> Sudurpaschim Province in Nepal’s far-west is far away from everything: from Kathmandu, from adequate medical care, from food security, and far from the reach of government services. It has suffered state neglect for centuries, its men mainly migrating to India for seasonal work to families who depend on subsistence agriculture. Pathak remembers the searing sadness he felt when a patient once told him, “Doctor, I sold the last of my rice to pay to come here, please give me a medicine that I can take on an empty stomach.” Pathak was born in Kathmandu, and after getting his MBBS from Kathmandu University, he got an MD from The Philippines. At a time when many Nepali doctors and staff nurses were emigrating, Pathak did not just return to Kathmandu but decided to go to one of the remotest districts in Nepal to serve those most in need. The hospital was established in 2009 in the village of Bayalpata, and has been managed by the non-profit <a href="https://www.nyayahealthnepal.org/" target="_blank">Nyaya Health Nepal (NHN)</a> as a public-private partnership treating 100,000 patients a year for no fees at all. NHN is now preparing to hand over the running of the hospital to the Sudurpaschim provincial government so its <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/this-is-how-to-upgrade-nepals-rural-health" target="_blank">model of hospital management</a> can be replicated.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250414130456_b59dabd4604a24426a55fe91c0e5866b5029858bdb4c4028c331557aeb5408ae.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20250414130456_b59dabd4604a24426a55fe91c0e5866b5029858bdb4c4028c331557aeb5408ae" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Bayalpata hospital"> <figcaption>Bayalpata hospital in Achham.</figcaption> </figure>  People from not just Achham but surrounding districts, and from as far away as Humla, bring patients to Bayalpata, sometimes walking for days. Some with complicated pregnancies are brought in stretchers, young children with broken arms walk into the emergency, and sometimes there are mass casualties when a tractor or bus falls off a road. And Pathak is always there with his team performing triage, and doing orthopaedic surgeries that would be difficult even in Kathmandu. Recently, his team did a hip replacement at <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/state-of-the-art-rural-hospital" target="_blank">Bayalpata Hospital</a>. Mild mannered, modest, soft-spoken, hard-working, professional are the words families of patients who have been treated at <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-rural-lifeline" target="_blank">Bayalpata Hospital </a>use to describe Mandeep Pathak. But the surgeon is too busy to let all this get to this head.&nbsp; Asked why he does not emigrate like his peers or get a lucrative position at a private hospital in Kathmandu, Pathak answers simply, without a trace of self-importance, “I do not think I could get the satisfaction or sense of fulfilment anywhere else.” When travelling to attend medical congresses overseas or visit family in Kathmandu, Bayalpata has other doctors to take care of patients, but many wait patiently till Pathak returns for their consultation or surgery.&nbsp; When he returns from seminars abroad after learning the latest skills, Pathak’s suitcases are not full of clothes or presents, but titanium bone implants, external fixation rods, or intramedullary nails to be used in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/altruistic-healthcare-models-in-nepal" target="_blank">surgeries at Bayalpata</a>.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025041414040_5356278472c1eb2b9e4af1d593d6234cc8dc5e5161a8c614197c01abefadbd80.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="2025041414040_5356278472c1eb2b9e4af1d593d6234cc8dc5e5161a8c614197c01abefadbd80" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1368" loading="lazy" alt="surgery"> </figure>  Before Bayalpata Hospital was established, most people suffering broken bones had to travel down to Dhangadi or Nepalganj for treatment. No more. Although Pathak’s specialisation is orthopaedic oncology, he is mostly treating fractures and rejoining broken bones.&nbsp; Now as Bayalpata’s Hospital Director, Pathak also has administrative and fundraising duties. He has to take the 10-hour ride down to Dhangadi often to meet various Sudurpaschim ministries to release the hospital’s budget — that is sometimes more difficult than the most complicated surgery. Recently, he had to cancel an appointment with the Chief Minister to rush back to Bayalpata because there was a patient who needed emergency surgery. “I told myself, let me save this patient first, then I will try to save the hospital,” he recalls.&nbsp; Once, when he had to be away for a month on emergency surgery training in the US, the family of a 90-year-old woman who had dislocated her hip after falling from a staircase was waiting for him to return. Her son told Pathak: “Doctor, either put her out of her suffering, or cure her.” Pathak told him it was too dangerous to operate at her age, but the son said his mother was in so much pain it was worth the risk. The operation was touch-and-go, but it was successful. The woman who had been brought in on a stretcher, walked out of the hospital three days after the operation.&nbsp; A few months later, a 27-year-old woman was brought into the ER bleeding profusely from an arm mangled by a thresher machine. Even in that state, she was breastfeeding her baby. Pathak welled up seeing this display of selfless motherhood, as he wheeled her into surgery. She needed three operations, but now has full use of her hand. <div class="embed-block"><iframe width="700" height="415" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xJdxLD0hBqo?si=mOpM2R_DsYL88Lfg" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div> It is the sense of achievement from such recovery that keeps Mandeep Pathak here in this isolated village in the middle of nowhere. Bayalpata Hospital has not just saved lives, it also saves families from poverty because they do not have to take sick relatives to expensive city hospitals.&nbsp; In January, a woman was brought to Bayalpata with both hands broken. She said she had taken a fall, but Pathak did not believe her. When alone in the surgery, she finally admitted that her husband had beaten her.&nbsp; It was her husband who had brought her to hospital for treatment, but she refused to file a police report. Pathak quietly put both her arms in casts, thinking about the poverty, patriarchy and injustice in society that he is unable to treat.

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