KATHMANDU:  After winning the hearts of international audience as well as prestigious awards like the Best Film award at Venice International Film Critics’ Week (an independent section) at the 72nd Venice International Film Festival, Min Bahadur Bham’s directorial Kalo Pothi (The Black Hen) is ready to charm the Nepali audience.

The film will hit cinema halls on June 3. This was announced at a press meet held at Theatre Mall, Kathmandu Mall on May 16.

“I’m trying to tell a story of Karnali where I grew up during the Maoist insurgency, and the experiences we were subjected to as normal people during that period,” Bham expressed at the meet underscoring, “I support neither the Maoists nor the State. I don’t like war.”

Kalo Pothi is a story of two friends who are children — Kiran and Prakash — in a small, war-torn village in Western Nepal. Sukra Raj Rokaya plays Kiran (grandson of Mukhiya) while Khadka Raj Nepali plays the character of Prakash.

The two boys were selected and trained for four months before the filming. Sharing about his experience working in the film, Rokaya shared, “I was afraid in the beginning but I started to enjoy my work later on.” He also shared that he would do more films if he gets offers.

Meanwhile Nepali mentioned, “I was interested in acting and films from the beginning and I jumped at this opportunity.”

The trailer of Kalo Pothi and the song Lama Kheno sung by Ani Choying Drolma were also screened at the event. The film shot in Mugu is in Khas language.

The film has garnered international recognition to which one of the producers of the film Tsering Rhitar Sherpa stated, “It is a film which has created a lot of wave in the international market to help Nepali films get international production.”