Metro»
Indigenous culture in films
JUN 26 -
The 4th Nepal International Indigenous Film Festival has kicked off at Rastriya Sabha Griha on June 25. The festival organised by Indigenous Film Archive (IFA), which is showcasing 19 international and 14 national ethnic films, will continue till June 27 at Nepal Tourism Board auditorium and Rastriya Sabha Griha.
A madal was handed over to singer Jhuma Limbu by the music maestro Amber Gurung in the inauguration so as to highlight the theme of the festival: Transfer of Knowledge. In addition to this, artist Kiran Manandhar made a fast sketch and handed over the brush and paint to a budding artist Astha Rai. This symbolises that it is high time young artists should shoulder the responsibility of protecting the indigenous culture.
The festival started with the screening of a 67 minute long Mexican documentary titled And the River Flows on. The film illustrates the struggle of indigenous people of North Mexico who fight against the government officials to prevent the construction of a dam which would devastate their village. The director Carlos Perej Rojas is a human rights award winner of 2005. The ceremony also included the exhibition of costumes and accessories of Nepali indigenous tribes like Tharu, Tamang, Limbu, Dhimal etc. The volunteers dressed in the traditional attires also added to the beauty of the ceremony and relayed the message- Unity in Diversity.
The panel of judges including filmmaker Yuvraj Lama, theatre artist Shova Chand, journalist Ashok Pyasi Rai, film scholar Anuvav Ajit and sociologist Dr. Krishna Bhattachan will recommend the winners of the Golden, Silver and Bronze Drums (first, second and third position respectively). The judges are looking for creativity that depicts the indigenous culture and hope such festivals will break the monotony of stereotypical Nepali commercial movies. “It would be nice to see films like these that promote and protect indigenous cultures in the commercial mainstream as well,” says Hira Lal Blon, the director of the Tamang movie Prangbola Mhang.
There are more movies to come which depict the lives of Gurung, Tamang, Dhimal and Magar from Nepal, Naga from India, Awajun from Peru, Sami from Sweden and many more. Tseten Yangkie, a student who had come to the inauguration of the festival said, “It would definitely have been better if we also got to see movies made on unheard and unspoken tribes of Nepal like Ranuwar and Raute etc.”
Posted on: 2010-06-27 08:53
Headlines
Advertisements
