NIFF to begin from Friday

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Mar. 19: The 8th Nepal International Film Festival (NIFF) is set to be held in Kathmandu from Friday with the slogan 'Nepal International Film Festival, celebrate stories from around the world'.

 As an ode to films from every country, NIFF has decided to celebrate ‘Russian Film Day’ this year.

Celebrating the Russian film industry at NIFF, three different films have been allocated at Chhaya Centre in Thamel, as mentioned in the press release. 

Organised by the Nepal Film and Cultural Academy, NIFF will feature 87 films from 40 countries.

The film festival will be held from March 21-25 in Kathmandu and will be hosted across different venues, including QFX Cinema locations (Civil Mall and Chhayya Centre) and the Nepal Tourism Board. 

NIFF is introducing two new award categories including  The  Audience Choice Award and the AI Award.

 Several critically acclaimed films from prestigious festivals such as Cannes and Berlin will be screened, ensuring that audience members experience some of the most celebrated works in contemporary cinema.

 The juries this year are Dr. Rwita Dutta and Ponnam Ravichandra from India, Jamal Shah from Pakistan, Prof. Liu Jiayin from China, Surakshya Panta, Rakshya Rana Singh and Deependra Gauchan from Nepal, Karimi Azimi from Iran, Khandaker Sumon from Bangladesh and Joan Marc Montiel Diaz from Spain.

The festival will feature both national and international sections, with awards presented for the best feature films, short films, and documentaries in each category.

 The Mount Everest Award, which includes a cash prize of USD 1,000 and a trophy, will be given to the best international documentary.

 Meanwhile, the best international short film will receive the Bagmati Award, accompanied by a cash prize of USD 500 and a trophy. 

For the Artificial Intelligence category, the best film will be honoured with the Manjushree Award, with a cash prize of USD 500 and a trophy.

In the Nepali competition section, the best feature film will be awarded a cash prize of Rs. 100,000 along with a trophy. The best short film and best documentary will each receive Rs. 50,000 and a trophy.

 Additionally, in the national short film category, the best director will also be recognised with a trophy. The Academy will present trophies to the best director, writer, cinematographer, actor, and actress within the feature film category of the national competition.

“In the first edition, we had to ask a few acquaintances and friends from the fraternity to let us showcase their movies for NIFF. Now, we can show international movies as well. Now, foreign films are eager to participate in our film festival,” said KP Pathak Chairperson, NIFF Committee.