elebrating Cinema: Film Southasia'11

KATHMANDU : ‘Documentary is Cinema’ stands the slogan for this year’s Film South Asia (FSA), a four day celebration of cinema. The film festival will show case a total of 36 documentaries at the Kumari Cinema, Kamal Pokhari from September29 to October 2. Speaking the press conference held at Yala Maya Kendra on September 27, Kanak Mani Dixit, the chair of FSA said the festival will work as an encouragement to Nepali film makers and enthusiasts and expose them to international cinema.  “We are excited to have films from Afghanistan and Burma, and also an entry from Tibet,” he said. Among the Nepali documentaries that will be screen this year are Kesang Tseten’s Saving Dolma, Stefano Levis’s Out of the Darkness, Aurore Laurent and Adrien Viel’s Aadesh Baba and Dipendra Bhandari’s Journey to Yarsa. The documentary to be screened at the opening, Dixit disclosed, takes the audiences to the home and life Puni Maya Kami, a wife and the mother to four children. Entitled Journey to Yarsa, the 55 minute story is filmed by Dipendra Bhandari is about the ordeals a family goes through to collect yarsagumba in the high mountains of Nepal. FSA this year is going to be inaugurated by eminent Bangladeshi filmmaker Catherine Masud. Speaking to the press, Masud shared that the event will be a platform “to share ideas and have interaction among film makers.” Among the 36 films to be screened this year, six of them will have their Southasianpremiere at event. A total of 20 film makers will be attending the festival, which this year received around 400 entries. Alongside the screenings, this time FSA will have three special events as well. Tareque Masud Memorial: Dialogue titled “Documentary: The Universe from Nitrate to YouTube”, with Nupur Basu, Yasmine Kabir and Satish Sharma is the first one. The second event will be a discussion led by human rights activist, Tapan Bose titled “International Humanitarian Law and the Video as Witness also including the screening of Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields (49’)”. The final presentation will be led by Mr Iikka Vehkalahti, a commissioning editor for YLE TV, Finland. Vehkalahti will talk on financing and distributing documentaries internationally. This is the eighth edition of the film fest which will be judged by a three-member South Asian jury. Lead by Satish Sharma, renowned Indian photographer, writer, and curator, the jury also consists Igor Blazevič, founder of the One World film festival, the largest human rights festival in Europe and Manesh Shrestha, educator, journalist and former director of FSA. The best film will be awarded with the ‘Ram Bahadur Trophy’ along with a citation and a cash prize of USD 2,000. The second best film will be awarded a citation and cash prize of USD 1,000 and the Best Debut Film will be awarded a citation and cash prize of USD 1,000. The tickets are priced at Rs 50 each and are available at Dhokaima Café, Patan Dhoka Manadala Book Point Kantipath, Jai Nepal Cinema, Nrayanhiti and Kumari Cinema, Kamal Pokhari.