This was revealed during a press briefing at Nepal Tourism Board, Exhibition Road, Monday.[break]
“We have come a long way since the first edition of the festival. I believe we have made several significant achievements,” said Nabin Subba, chairman of Indigenous Film Archive (IFA) and the organizer of the festival.
He was briefing about the fifth edition of the film festival and the journey of NIIFF.
“Through the screening of films shot on indigenous issues, we have helped the indigenous people movement in Nepal, created a stable platform for filmmakers and helped filmmakers grow through the years,” he added.
This year, the festival is screening films on the theme of ‘evolving indigenous woman’. Renchin Yonzon, social architect and director of the festival, shared, “Unlike in mainstream Nepali films where the role of indigenous women is limited to her suffering, we are exploring the issue of her empowerment, her strengths in particular.”
The members of the jury for this year’s festival are Suvi West, festival director of Skabmagovat film festival, Jason Ryle, festival director of imagineNATIVE film festival and renowned Nepali filmmaker Tshering Rhitar Sherpa.
42 films from 20 countries will be screened in the festival. Among the lot, only eight films have been shot by Nepali filmmakers. Of them, two are works of fiction and six documentaries representing the Gurung, Newar, Magar and Rai communities.
“The red carpet event will see all the participating filmmakers, sharing the lime light on the evening of the award ceremony,” added Yonzon.
The best three films in the competitive category will receive golden, silver and bronze drums respectively. While the best Nepali film will receive a cash prize of Rs 25,000.
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