Nepal

When two boys are kidnapped in a border town in Nepal, Detective Inspector Pooja is sent from Kathmandu to solve the case. But when she arrives, the brewing political unrest and violent protests throw her off course, and she is forced to seek help from Mamata, a local Madhesi policewoman. By putting aside systemic discrimination and pushing through everyday misogyny, the women solve the case – but at what personal cost? Inspired by real events which took place in Southern Nepal during the 2015 race protests.Read More »

Drawing inspiration from Frederick Wiseman’s classic aesthetic, Nepalese filmmaker Kesang Tseten spends a year observing the community and culture of Himalayan immigrants in and around the Jackson Heights neighborhood of Queens. During the buildup to the 2020 U.S. Census, the inhabitants reveal their motivation to have their presence recorded, encouraged by visits from their political representatives, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. In carefully captured verite footage, we see a rich portrait of people deeply connected to homeland traditions while adjusting to life in exile.Read More »

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A passenger filled highway coach traveling from Eastern Nepal to Kathmandu hits one delay after another, the first of those delays due to a bandh. After a lengthy stop, they are able to bypass the bandh as they masquerade as a wedding party, as bandhs unofficially allow wedding vehicles through their protests. The passengers are able fortuitously to come up with this masquerade as the one acting as the bride is indeed going to Kathmandu to get engaged. The stories of those on board, some whose the delay help, some whose it hurts, are told. The “bride”, medical student Pooja, is torn between marrying her intended fiancé Abiral, just returned from the United States and who she’s known since they were children, and her lover Ronit. Read More »

In a remote Himalayan village in Nepal, structured by the ancient tradition of polyandry, a newly-married and pregnant Pema finds her life upended when her husband, Tashi, vanishes on a trading expedition to Lhasa. Accompanied by Karma, a monk and her husband’s brother, she embarks on a grueling trek through the raw, imposing wilderness. But with every step, her physical journey transforms into a profound quest for personal freedom and self-discovery.Read More »

A pick-up truck driver leaves Kathmandu airport for a two-day drive with a delivery to a remote mountain village. On the high road, a solitary figure slowly makes his way, wheeling a small red suitcase toward the same village.Read More »

First document about a tibetan meditation that preserves the body from days to weeks after traditionally considered death.Read More »

When his father dies, anti-regime partisan Chandra must travel to his remote mountain village after nearly a decade away. Little Pooja is anxiously awaiting the man she thinks is her father, but she’s confused when Chandra arrives with Badri, a young street orphan rumored to be his son. Chandra must face his brother Suraj, who was on the opposing side during the Nepali civil war. The two brothers cannot put aside political feelings while carrying their father’s body down the steep mountain path to the river for cremation. Suraj storms off in a rage, leaving Chandra with no other men strong enough to help. Under pressure from the village elders, Chandra must seek help from outside the village to obey the rigid caste and discriminatory gender traditions he fought to eliminate during the war. Chandra searches for a solution in neighboring villages, among the police, guests at a local wedding, and rebel guerrillas…Read More »

The Himalayan region of Nepal is one of the most fragile environments in the world and is characterized by extreme uncertainty and great complexity. The adverse impacts of climate change are further worsening the situation of local system/societies by increasing their vulnerability. Through a visual representation of how some communities from Lo Mustang region of Nepal perceive climate change, this film explores their cultural models and their attempts at adaptation, both individual and collective.Read More »

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Breathtaking, poignant and mesmerizing, MANAKAMANA is a documentary shot entirely inside the narrow bubble of a cable car, high above a jungle in Nepal, as it transports villagers and tourists to an ancient mountaintop temple. Filmed in 16mm and comprised of 11 rides (each a single take corresponds to the length of a roll of film), MANAKAMANA is a tender, ephemeral character study of its passengers and a window onto the lush, rolling landscape of a country in transition from ancient tradition to modernity. This evocative and rigorously structured documentary presents a rich sensory experience that ignites the viewer’s imagination to fill in the past, present and future of each moment as they watch. The New York Film Festival calls it, “…an airborne version of an Andy Warhol screen test…an endlessly suggestive film that both describes and transcends the bounds of time and space.”Read More »