With an aim to uplift the status of indigenous people and to give them a voice through the medium of films, Indigenous Film Archive (IFA) has been organizing the Nepal International Indigenous Film Festival for the past six years. [break]
The 7th Nepal International Film Festival (NIIFF) 2013, which is being held simultaneously at City hall and Nepal Tourism Board located in Exhibition Road, started on April 25 and will continue till April 28.
“For the past six years, IFA has been uplifting indigenous culture and practices, through films, and also increasing the level of understanding between indigenous and non-indigenous communities,” informs Sangam Pulami Magar, Festival Coordinator of NIIFF.
The four day festival is set to screen 50 films from 19 different countries including Nepal, Ethiopia, Taiwan, Australia and USA. ‘Equal Access and Participation of Indigenous People in the Media’ has been set as the theme for the festival this year. “This theme will explore the issues of participation and access to the mainstream media of indigenous people, and how indigenous issues are being covered in the media,” Magar explains.
A still from the movie ‘The Well’.
In its second day, 15 films, including the first ever film on the Kulung people of Nepal, ‘Telposh’, was screened. Other films included ‘Reel Injun’, a documentary which is an insightful look at the Hollywood Indian and the portrayal of North American Native (USA), ‘Jatra Hadi Gau Ko’ (Nepal), a documentary about the fading Hadi Gau Jatra or carnival, and ‘Overburden’ (Australia), a story of the struggle to preserve the traditional way of life from oil mania.
Apart from the IFA productions, other films in the festival will be competing for first, second and third positions. Films are set to be judged by a three-member jury consisting of Carlos Gomez from Colombia, Kui Ing Seng from Taiwan Indigenous Television, and Shashikala Manandhar from Nepal. Films will also be competing in the ‘Nepal Panorama’ category. The winners will be announced on April 28, in a ceremony at Jhapu Samaj, Bholdhoka, Patan. Besides long screenings of various films, the festival also has a small food festival, painting exhibitions and cultural artifacts and products stalls, on the side.
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Q&A with Navin Subba, Chairperson, IFA
What do you think has been the impact of NIIF?
Although there are international indigenous festivals bigger in scale than NIIF, it has been accepted as one of the key festivals by indigenous film makers worldwide. We still can do so much more to take this festival to greater heights. In case of the impact in Nepal, our film festival has the highest Nepali programming of 40% Nepali-made films out of the total films being screened. Even if the level of the films isn’t international, we believe we need to give Nepali filmmakers space because there isn’t much platform for indigenous filmmakers.
What has been the trend of audiences attending the festival?
We see a diverse audience coming to our festival. Normally, there’s stereotype of film festival audiences as being middle class and educated but we’ve broken that. Apart from that, we also see the inflow of a lot of students.
How do you think Nepali filmmakers can upgrade the standard of their films?
Nepali filmmaking has always seen Indian influence. But we are now breaking away from that. We need to start having the mentality that we will compete with international standards. Yes, there are some young and talented filmmakers and a few who are making their living by making documentaries and films. But Nepali filmmakers, currently, are lacking proper guidance and training.
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