French director Alan Simon in Nepal for shooting location hunt

By A Staff Reporter Kathmandu, July 4: French film director Alan Simon is now in Nepal to look for shooting locations. 

A French film Digbi is being shot in Nepal. Organising a press conference in the capital on Sunday, Director Simon informed that he and his team are going to make a film on the Sarangi player of Nepal.  

The film, which has a 35-day shooting schedule in Nepal, will also feature Nepali actors, informed Simon. 

Simon, who is also a well-known French folk rock musician, composer, best known for rock opera, said that 90 per cent of the filming will take place in Nepal and the rest in France. 

Simon had organised a concert to help Nepalis even during the 2015 earthquake in Nantes to collect funds for the villages affected by the earthquake. He collected 30,000 Euros. 

He had done his first movie S8 in Nepal in 1982.  In 2002, he again came to Nepal and worked with various musicians in Nepal. He said that since 2002, he had been planning to shoot a film in Nepal which is finally going to be realised, he added. 

In the press conference, he said, “Many foreigners come to Nepal in search of spirituality and I have come to make a film that gives both joy and happiness. 

Stating that there is a crisis in the world film including Nepal due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Simon hoped that the film, which is being shot, will also help Nepal’s tourism.

He said that even though he is an audience of films like Top Gun and Jurassic Park,  he prefers to offer spirituality and messages from his films.

Commenting on digital film trend like Netflix, he said that film should not be like television. Film should be like film, not like TV. 

In a glamour film, spirituality should also be mixed and fed. The film is great when the audience finds its roots, said Simon.

The film tells the story of a nomad who came to Nepal from Europe in search of spirituality, music and the meaning of life. 

The story of the film is about the changes that take place when the main character named Pavel meets a 10-year old boy playing the Sarangi when he comes to Nepal.

It is said that the cast of the main character of the film, Digbi, will be done soon. Digbijay Bharti and Suresh Adhikari, the Nepal line producers of the film, said that there would be a Nepali team in the film.

Stating that the production of the film will start from March next year, Bharati and Adhikari said that the film will be shot in the tourist heritage and touristic areas of Kathmandu. 

Manager of the company Digbijay Bharti said that the film would help Nepal's tourism.