Picture Courtesy: Utkrista K.C.

After the first day of third semester, I had a weekend. Since the first day was only a warm up, I had no assignments at all. So, with a plan of attending FILM SOUTH ASIA 2015, I along with friends headed towards Yala Maya Kendra, Patan Dhoka. The festival had started from 17^th November and was to continue till 22^nd November.

Film South Asia (FSA) is a biennial festival that was set up in 1997 with the goal of popularizing South Asian documentaries so that those documentaries can entertain, inform and change lives. In addition to the festival that take place in Kathmandu in every two years, FSA organizes screenings, discussions and workshops across South Asia to promote South Asian non-fiction within the subcontinent and around the world. This time there were altogether 43 films on the show list including eight student films.

I was excited about this program as this was my second visit to such festival. Last time, I had been to KIMFF (Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival) and I remember enjoying it thoroughly. The creative approach seen on the screen had engulfed me then.

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Likewise, when I was about to enter the entrance gate of Yala Maya Kendra, the decorations that were hung up flashing the promotion of the documentary fest was enough to drag my attention and force me to proceed inside. They had added a sort of celebration in the ambience. As soon as we entered, we were in a hurry to grasp the show tickets. And then, we all rushed towards the hall. The first show we caught up was ‘3 Shamans’ which depicted the life of Shamans in Nepal who relieve human beings of their pain. It was as interesting as its title sounded. The entire show was a masterpiece. Aurore Laurent and Adiren Viel were the Directors of that documentary. Similarly, we sat for the ‘Red Ant Dream’ which was about Maoist insurgency in India. Furthermore, ‘Cities of Sleep’ was not less than the prior ones that we had watched. The veridical feature of documentary was able to draw my attention.

I had also wished to watch ‘Drawing the Tiger’ which was shot in Nepal, but the late night show prevented me from being able to catch up with it. It was my first time with the documentary film festival and I thoroughly relished the show. Undoubtedly, my weekend was productive! The entire show was great. However, little participation of Nepalese people in comparison to foreigners in the festival disappointed me.