KATHMANDU:

Nepali filmmakers are leaving for Tokyo to take part in the Himalayan Film Festival. According to a nepa~layapress statement, Kiran Krishna Shrestha (maker of Bhedako Oon Jasto…) and Dhurba Basnet (Schools in the cross fire) will be leaving for Japan.

Sixteen films from the Himalaya Archief Nederland were selected for the festival. The selection includes six works from Nepali filmmakers. Apart from Shrestha and Basnet, other filmmakers whose films will be screened at the fest are – Tsering Rhitar (The spirit doesn’t come any more), Kesang Tseten (On the road with the red god: Machhendranth), Sapana Sakya and Ramyata Limbu (Daughters of Everest), Mohan Mainali (Timber to Tibet). Gajiro Yamamoto’s Climbing Manasulu on Nepali issue will also be screened.

The festival will coincide with and celebrate the 50-year-anniversary of the success of a Japanese climbing expedition reaching Mt Manasulu. The year 2006 is also the 50-year-anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Nepal and Japan.

Initiated by the Himalaya Archief Nederland, a Holland-based NGO, the festival is co-hosted

by NHK International – the Japanese Public Broadcasting Company.

It is scheduled from August 14 -22.