Bhaktapur Film Festival to begin next week

By A Staff Reporter,Bhaktapur, Mar. 14: A group of young filmmakers from Bhaktapur is set to organise the Bhaktapur Film Festival for the first time in Bhaktapur on Chaitra 6 and 7.  According to festival director Kiran Kilambu, the event aims to promote Bhaktapur's art and literature and to provide a platform for emerging filmmakers.

The festival is being organised by the group, including filmmakers Kiran Kilambu, Safal Baidya, Smit Giri, Bikesh Prajapati, Saksham KC, and Pravin Takki, among others.

"We are organising this festival in Bhaktapur, which is our birthplace, for the first time, with the intention of promoting the culture and art of this place," Kilambu said.

Festival director Kilambu has previously worked in films such as Kabbadi 4, Phoolbari, Dimag Kharab, Phir Resham Filili, and Degree Maila.

According to festival coordinator Smit Giri, the festival has also been initiated to provide a platform for independent filmmakers and their works.

"We are organising this festival to create a platform for filmmakers who are making films independently," Giri said. "Increasing cinema literacy is also one of the objectives of the festival."

Along with Giri, Safal Baidya, who studied film at Everest Academy, is also serving as a festival coordinator.

A total of 24 films will be screened during the two-day festival. The festival will open with the screening of 'Gaun Aayeko Bato,' directed by Nabin Subba. Other films to be screened include 'Aina Jhyal Ko Putali' directed by Sujit Bidari, 'Song of Clouds' by Ankit Paudel, 'At Another Winter' by Kiran Shrestha, and the documentary 'Dhorpatan' directed by Rajan Kathet and Sunir Pandey, among others.

The closing film of the festival will be the documentary 'Mother Rebecca' by Sandesh Bhurtel.

The festival will also screen two films related to Newa culture, such as 'Kija Puja' and 'Newa Buddhism in Nepal.'

During the festival, filmmaker Keshav Pandey will conduct a story-writing workshop. The workshop will take place a day before the festival begins.

In addition, the festival will collaborate with Rushel Shilpakar to organise a Heritage Walk through Bhaktapur, weaving together cinema and the city's extraordinary living history.

The festival will be held at Nepal Vocational Academy in Kamal Binayak, Bhaktapur.