“South Asian Film Festival” on Feb 1-5 in Sauraha

BHARATPUR, JANUARY 28: A “South Asian Film Festival” is going to be held from February 1 to 5 at Sauraha situated in the Ratnanagar Municipality-7 of Chitwan. The five-day event is being organised by Caravan Nepal. President of Caravan Nepal and film director, Bimal Paudel, said the festival is being organised with two major objectives: They are to help promote tourism in Chitwan and expedite the growth of Nepali films.

The festival will comprise more than 100 stalls of movies, tourism and local traditional delicacies and is expected to draw 50,000 spectators, with a turnover of Rs. 15 million.

During the five-day festival, discussions are planned to be held on efforts to be taken by the state and private sector for the development of film and tourism, while the attention of the government will be drawn to policy reforms.

The Ratnanagar Municipality is providing its support to the festival which will feature films, documentaries and short films amidst the presence of filmmakers from eight countries in the region. It is also expected to promote cultural exchange and celebrate the richness of South Asian storytelling. Awards will also be presented for the best film, best director and best screenplay categories. Gokarna Giri, the co-coordinator of the main festival organising committee said that the regional film festival in Sauraha is anticipated to help revive the tourism in Chitwan. Before this, Caravan Nepal had organized the Golden Film Festival in Birgunj and a festival related to Buddha’s biography and philosophy in Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautam Buddha.