Asian Young Curator 1: “Alternative Nepali Cinema”

To what extent do ideologies shape us? Are they instead existential struggles personified?

The stretch within which the spectrum of socialist and capitalist thoughts exists is where we find humanity oscillating to degrees of reason and desire. It is a human struggle, collectively externalized. social/kapital and its divide is thus anthropomorphic.

Existence is lonely; we are born to fend for ourselves. But this individual life transpires within a particular social reality. There are other lonely figures out there, which potentially are friends or competition. There is thus a black and white notion of strength in numbers, however this mutual longing countered by ego and paranoia of individuality.

Material possession and lack thereof is in many ways emblematic of a modern divide, where we tend to ignore thepotential of equality. Governance and law, they very mechanism built to level the field then are eschewed by favors materials can provide. Both ideologies which make the ends of our spectrum (the altruistic social creature and materialistic/possessive individual) are susceptible to even more exploitation.

To me, any developing country like Nepal becomes a fertile ground for this symbolic yet actual struggle. As one of the poorest in the world, Nepalis have long accepted political lack, our people are jaded. Many of us deal with the tussle between social and kapital through indifference. The arts remain the only way to re-sensitize and to critically explore the world that surrounds us. It might be the only way we can perhaps engender a response from people.

“Voices,” a collection of four films (two documentary and two fiction shorts) presents social/kapital within the context of Nepal through the works of four young filmmakers. Besides showcasing new voices of alternative Nepali cinema, each film tackles socially pertinent subject-matters, through a singular protagonist (or theme). These filmmakers are essentially meditating on contemporary issues.

The Contagious Apparitions of Dambarey Dendrite (2013) by Bibhushan Basnet and Pooja Gurung tells a fictional story of young runaways living on the streets of Kathmandu. Ignored by society, one such runaway Dambarey with his peers abuses an industrial chemical (dendrite) to escape his morbid existence. Hallucinations have become a part of his daily ritual but his behavior vexes others and tensions rise among these rejects that live in the shadow of an apathetic and sprawling city.

Abarohan or Descent (2013) and Let Us Build a Home Mother (2015) by were made by Karan Shrestha in the same locality of Kot Danda, some 10 kilometers east of the capital Kathmandu. Abarohan follows two boys whose curiosity leads to unforeseen circumstances in this silent fiction short. The film is driven by the introduction of an alien object within a context of inability to deal with certain realities.

Shot a few months after the massive earthquakes of 2015, Let Us Build a Home Mother presents Kot Danda through the devastation it suffered. While thisdocumentary short only clocks in at 5 minutes, it presents a story that mirrors complications of living in rural Nepal. Narrated by a local woman, the film recounts how her son built their home that no longer stands. She tells of the lengths her son went to secure the resources they did not have, often using illegal measures as last resort.

Finally, Amitabh Joshi’s Tashi’s Turbine (2014) is an uplifting story that follows the perseverance of Tashi Bista, a charming young man who hopes to empower communities in one of the remotest regions in the world through sustainable energy. Tashi’s dedication brings both hope and conflict to an area whose people are outliers of Nepali society.

Together, these films present a glimpse of the next generation of filmmakers who hope to bring a greater focus on storytelling while staying relevant through its commentary on contemporary issues. In these works we find how individuals and the social play off each other. They present voices that would have otherwise never held the stage.