KATHMANDU: Bringing a diverse spectrum of documentaries, fiction, adventure cinema, experimental shorts, anthropological narratives and animation from Nepal and the international scene, the Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival (KIMFF) is ready to wow movie buffs this year too. The 13th edition of the film festival will screen over 80 films from 25 countries at Kumari Hall, Kamalpokhari.

As per a press release issued by KIMFF, the festival will open on December 10 with the screening of a documentary Bhagyale Bachekaharu (Nepal Earthquake: Heroes, Survivors and Miracles) by Ganesh Panday. “The film is a testimony to the fortitude, resilience and determination of the Nepali people and a metaphor for the country’s situation post-quake,” the statement mentions.

Meanwhile, a panel of judges — comprising British climber and journalist Ed Douglas, Korean film scholar Prof Eun Young Kim, Indian film editor Namrata Rao and film critic Premendra Nath Mazumdar — will adjudge the best three documentaries in the international competition and the top documentary and fiction in the Nepal Panorama selection.

The winners will take home cash prizes of $1,500, $1,000, $5,00 (for international competition) while the best fiction film and documentary in Nepali Panorama will win cash prize of Rs 50,000 each. And $1,000 will be awarded to the best film on mountain development issues in the region, the statement further mentions.

The top 10 films from the short film competition Seismic Shift — focusing on how Nepali people experienced the earthquake — will also be screened at awarded at KIMFF.

In the five-day long festival that will continue till December 14, activities like discussion forums, guest lectures, photo exhibition and installation art projects will take place in the presence of film-makers, film enthusiasts, critics, scholars, journalists, artists and mountaineers.

On the occasion of the International Mountain Day (December 11), Korean films from the Ulju Mountain Film Festival along with a documentary about snow leopard, a film on air pollution will also be screened.

For more information/ schedule, you can contact KIMFF office 01-4440635/ info@kimff.org, www. kimff.org .