Film South Asia to kick off on Thursday

The fifth Film South Asia (FSA) '05 – a festival of documentaries -- is to kick off in Kathmandu on Thursday exhibiting a selection of the best films made in or about the region over the last two years, the organisers said.

Noted filmmaker Sai Paranjpye will open the five-day festival (from 29 September to 4 October).

Altogether 43 films are being screened at FSA '05, and most of them will be presented by the directors, who will be converging on Kathmandu for the four-day festival. While many are first-time filmmakers, some of the well-known directors who will be in Kathmandu with their films include Tanveer Mokamel from Bangladesh, Rakesh Sharma from India and Shireen Pasha from Pakistan.

"Every time, we are more impressed with the intensity, diversity and craft evident in the documentaries submitted to us," said Manesh Shrestha, director of the festival. "The non-fiction films of FSA '05 celebrate South Asian life and livelihood even more than before. The audience is in for a treat."

Briefing reporters after brief screening of select documentaries at the Yelamaya Kendra at Patandhoka on Sunday, chairman of the festival organizing committee and senior journalist Kanak Mani Dixit said this was the true international event being organised in Kathmandu. He said Kathmandu was comparatively ahead of other South Asian cities in terms of documentary making.

In order to cater to the growing demand for documentaries by the Kathmandu public, this year the festival has been shifted to a larger venue—Kumari, the commercial duplex cinema at Kamal Pokhari. Two films will be screened simultaneously in the two halls over the fours of FSA’05.

Earlier, the Festival was held at the Russian Cultural Center also at Kamal Pokhari.

Public screening will begin at 4:30 p. m. on Thursday and at 9:00 a. m. for the remaining three days. Screening schedules with details of films and timings can be accessed at www.himalassociation.org/fsa.

According to the organisers, the 43 films selected for screening were chosen from a total of 189 entries. As in earlier years, India with its tradition of documentary-making will have the largest number of films at the FSA '05, taking in the entire 'spread' of the country. Pakistan and Bangladesh have impressive line-ups for FSA'05 while Sri Lanka and Nepal will have a more modest presence. There are also films on South Asian subjects based in Afghanistan, Burma, Canada and South Africa.

The three-member jury of FSA '05 is headed by Dhaka-based filmmaker Tareque Masud, and includes Hasan Zaidi, director of the Kara International Film Festival (Karachi) and Sabeena Gadihoke, teacher at the Jamia Millia School of Mass Communication (New Delhi). The film adjudged best will receive the "Ram Bahadur Trophy" in addition to a purse of USD 2000. The second best film will also be given a cash award. A Best Debut Film award has been instituted this year, in order to encourage first-time filmmakers.

The first edition of Film South Asia was held in 1997, after which there have been festivals in 1999, 2001 and 2003. The festival has emerged as the only one of its kind, bringing together at one venue documentaries made in various countries and sub-regions of South Asia. The festival also serves as a get-together of documentary filmmakers and connossieurs from different parts, a place for renewing energy and exchanging ideas.

The organisers said special arrangements have been made for air travel and accommodation in order to attract audience from other Southasian cities to Kathmandu. Audiences elsewhere will be able to view a special selection of FSA '05 films through the Traveling Film South Asia (TFSA), in which 15 outstanding productions will go to up to 50 venues in South Asia and the West.

The four days of Film South Asia will be followed by a two-day showcase of films from all over the world on political violence under the section "Barrel of the Gun". "This is an attempt to bring to the Kathmandu audience some of the finest fiction and non-fiction from all over the world on how the people get hurt when there is resort to political violence by those who rebel and by the state," said Shrestha.

The Film South Asia festival is a joint endeavour of the non-profit Himal Association and Himal Southasian, the regional magazine. ‘This is also an endeavor to support documentary film making within the country. The documentary making could certainly go up if other institutions and Television stations including NTV, Kantipur TV, Nepal 1 and Channel Nepal supported similar initiatives,’ said Reshu Aryal, coordinator of the festival.

Nepalnews will be providing special coverage of the Film South Asia 2005 including pre-screen reviews for the benefit of our audience. nepalnews.com by Sep 26 05