4th Toronto Nepali Film Festival

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TNFF 2011 Volunteers with performers Deepali Lindbloom and Swechchha Pokhrel

A really fun and engaging project that I am involved is Toronto Nepali Film Festival. It is a grassroots organization based in Toronto that was established in 2010 in order to create an international platform for the burgeoning independent Nepali filmmaking industry. Sustained by ticket sales and small business/individual sponsorships, TNFF 2012 attracted 400 audiences.

Filmmaker Julie Bridgham and juror June Chua, TNFF 2010

The fourth Toronto Nepali Film Festival will take place in Toronto on March 8 and 9, 2013. Filmmakers from anywhere in the world can submit films and one does not have to be Nepali. The only criterion is that the film has to pertain to Nepal or Nepalis. Any genres including experimental, shorts, animation and musical can be submitted. This year the film submission deadline is on Nov 23^rd, 2012. Filmmakers can either submit films directly in Toronto or in Kathmandu. For more information in Kathmandu, contact Lakshya Dhungana at curator@tnff.ca or 984 321 1109. In Toronto, contact me at curator@tnff.ca. This year’s festival will be juried and programmed by our following three-member jury:

Manjushree Thapa

Manjushree Thapa is a writer from Nepal now living in Canada. She has written two novels, Seasons of Flight and The Tutor of History, a short story collection, Tilled Earth, and four books of non-fiction: The Lives We Have Lost, Forget Kathmandu (shortlisted for the Lettre Ulysses Award), A Boy from Siklis, and Mustang Bhot in Fragments. She has also compiled and translated The Country Is Yours, a collection of stories and poems by forty-nine Nepali writers. Her writing has appeared in New York Times, London Review of Books, Los Angeles Review of Books and Newsweek. www.manjushreethapa.com

Rajee Aryal

Rajee Aryal is from Kathmandu and received her BA in Computer Science and Mathematics in the United States. She worked as a software engineer for nearly a decade, maintaining a private practice in painting, drawing and writing.  Her writings on the importance of Arts and Literature to an individual and the society have been published in the Kathmandu Post.  Rajee is currently pursuing her MFA in Painting and Drawing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her work has been exhibited at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis College of Arts and Design and the Sullivan Galleries in Chicago. www.rajeearyal.com

Sharelene Bamboat

Sharlene Bamboat is a Toronto based mixed media artist, working predominantly in film, video and performance. Drawing on queer critique, she takes up narratives of belonging and identification in order to challenge, subvert, question, and play with the categories of the nation, race, ethnicity, gender and desire. Bamboat’s work has exhibited across Canada, Europe, India, Pakistan and the United Kingdom. She is on the programming committee of the Pleasure Dome Film & Video Collective, as well as the programmer for SAVAC (South Asian Visual Arts Centre) in Toronto. www.sharlenebamboat.com

Pravesh Gurung's Nabariyeko Jhari (A Silent Monsoon)

Historically TNFF has received around 50 films each year. In the past we have received films from Canada, France, Germany, Russia, Serbia, Switzerland, USA and Nepal. Approximately 10 films ranging from documentary, animation, short and drama are showcased each year. Some of previously screened films include Bhedako Ko Oon Jasto (In Search of a Song), The Sari Soldiers, Daughters of Everest, Forgive! Forget Not!, In Search of the Riyal, Pooja, Sherpas: The True Heroes of Mount Everest, Buwega Maanatuna (The Spinner of Flights), Journey to Yarsa, KusheeBhaneko (A Thing Called Happiness), Ma Ksuhi Chu (I am Happy) and Buried in Tears. Each year Audience Choice Award and Jurors Choice Award are awarded, and they both carry a monetary prize.

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TNFF 2012 Promo Video