THEME 1: Culture (78 minutes total)

Beyul: The Sacred Hidden Valleys of the Himalaya
Nepal, 2007, 31 min.
Directed by Tsering Rhitar Sherpa

This documentary is filmed in the stunningly beautiful Khumbu valley located at the foot of Mt. Everest. The area is now Sagarmatha National Park and a World Heritage Site. Locals believe that Khumbu is one of the many Beyuls - the sacred valleys of the Himalaya - hidden by the 8th century Buddhist saint Padmasmbhava as refuges for people suffering from the impacts of conflicts, famine, or religious persecution. The Khumbu Beyul was discovered by the ancestors of the Sherpa people escaping religious conflict in Tibet, and is considered spiritually powerful, a safe refuge for people, animals and plants. This captivating film raises awareness of the role of such sacred natural sites in protecting the environment and maintaining harmonious relationships between the land and people throughout the world.

Selected for the 2008 Nepal International Indigenous Film Festival

Om Bikram
Nepal, 2006, 47 min.
Directed by Dhiraj Rai

In the 1980s, a new kind of music was unleashed in Nepal. Not following the traditional aesthetics, young singers were tuning to electric guitars and western drums. Focussing on the talent of singer Om Bikram Bista, the film tracks the history of pop music in Nepal and the hurdles faced by the pop singers on their road to fame.

Selected for the 2007 Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival

THEME 2: Peace Process (78 minutes total)

Frames of War
Nepal, 2008, 38 min.
Directed by Kesang Tseten and Prem BK.

Frames of War is a stark reminder that peace has not yet come for those directly affected by Nepal's 11 year armed conflict, especially for the relatives of those who disappeared, or were wounded or lost their parents. Justice is slow in coming and everyone seems to have forgotten the non-combatants who are victims of the war. The unobtrusive camera work, the music and lyrics add a haunting ambience and reinforce the message that without truth, justice and acknowledgement of the past, there can be no true reconciliation.

Nepal Panorama Award, 2008 Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival
Selected for the 2009 Himalaya Filmfestival, Amsterdam

The Long Journey
Nepal, 40 min.
Directed by Nabin Subba

This film follows the Nepal Delegation to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples, looking at Nepali history through the eyes of indigenous people. The journey is both physical and philosophical, showing how indigenous peoples of Nepal gradually convinced the United Nations that their voices must be heard.

THEME 3: Rural Life (65 minutes total)

Arko Ujyalo (Another Light)
Nepal, 2000, 20 min.
Directed by Kedar Sharma

The film tells the endearing and inspiring true story of a lively twelve-year old boy, who lost his vision at the age of three through having measles.  Nandalal Kumal is shown coping with everyday life in a small Nepalese village.  You see him with his family, playing with his friends, and going to school.  His father and teacher talk about the importance of letting him attend the local school, rather than being sent to a school for special needs outside the village.  They recognise his need to be part of the community and to learn the skills he needs to do household chores and to earn his living.

Twisin
Nepal, 2008, 37 min.
Directed by Prina Raj Joshi

This film is about a farmer in Bhaktapur, a fertile region just outside Kathmandu, and the challenges of an agricultural existence in the face of modernity and changing times.

Selected for the 2008 Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival
 



Naaram Namrati
Nepal, 2008, 8 min.
Directed by Pratimaya Pun

The Magar community uses the Titepati (Artemesia absinthium, or wormwood, to give it its Old English name) as a medicinal plant. It is an aromatic herbaceous shrub, native to temperate regions of Eurasia and northern Africa, which grows on rocky slopes and along footpaths, and has been known for centuries for its therapeutic properties.

THEME 4: Women in Nepal (80 minutes total)

Life for 10,000
Nepal, 52 min.
Directed by Saroj Manandhar

The film highlights the important work of Maiti Nepal, the Nepali organization that works to prevent girl trafficking. The trafficking of young girls and women from Nepal to India and other countries is a burning issue in Nepal.  Maiti Nepal helps the girls and women escape prostitution and find safe economic alternatives.

The Chiuree (Okusi – jodo nygko jiw)
Nepal, 2008, 8 min.
Directed by Shova Chepang

For the Chepangs, the chiuree tree is gifted to daughters to celebrate their birth or marriage. No wonder: it is a sweet-scented and sweet-fruited tree, which grows to the 5,000ft level in the Himalaya.  It is not only sweet, but also useful; the nuts are used for vegetable butter, soap and candles – and also as an application for gout and rheumatism!

Thak Thakma
Nepal, 2008, 10 min.
Directed by Lila Rai

Girls from the Limbu communities are taught the traditional art of Dhaka weaving. (see the Dhaka weavings at the TRAS table in the Himalayan Market)
 



Samali
Nepal, 2008, 10 min.
Directed by Loonibha Tuladhar

In some Newari communities, a family friend is sent with the bride to help her adjust.

THEME 5: Westerners in Nepal (69 minutes total)

Journey to Dolpo
Canada, 54 min.
by Vancouver writer Michael McCarthy

The film documents Michael McCarthy’s 500-mile trek with a Tibetan lama to remote Dolpo region of Nepal, to offer support and education to local children. Travelling through this mountainous region where Tibetan culture remains pure and unaffected by the outside world, the group is set upon by Maoist guerillas, traverses dizzying cliffs, and survives altitude sickness as they cross four 20,000-foot passes. The incredible dangers are only surpassed by the beauty of the scenery and the laughter of the children.

Winds of Change
Nepal, 15 min.
Produced by CECI Nepal

Three groups of Canadian and Nepali women trek to three remote mountain areas of Nepal for peace and development. Organized by the Montreal-based NGO Centre for International Studies and Cooperation (CECI), each trek covers one topic (health, women’s leadership or economics), with the aim of sharing knowledge between Nepali women and the western trekkers, in support of socially excluded women in Nepal. CECI combats poverty and exclusion by strengthening the capacity of disadvantaged communities, and offers interested women a unique opportunity to participate in a human adventure, trekking from village to village in the heart of the Himalaya: a personal challenge, a rich moment of exchange and a gesture of solidarity.