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PRESS RELEASE
Film South Asia '05
from 29 September
Kathmandu, 13 September - The fifth edition
of Film South Asia '05 festival of documentaries
is to be held in Kathmandu from 29 September to
4 October, exhibiting a selection of the best
films made in or about the region over the last
two years. Noted filmmaker Sai Paranjpye will
open the festival.
Altogether 43 films are being screened at FSA
'05, and most of them will be presented by the
directors, who will be converging on Kathmandu
for the four-day festival. While many are first-time
filmmakers, some of the well known directors who
will be in Kathmandu with their films include:
from Tanveer Mokamel from Bangladesh, Rakesh Sharma
from India, Shireen Pasha from Pakistan.
The three-member jury of FSA '05 is headed by
Dhaka-based filmmaker Tareque Masud, and includes
Hasan Zaidi, director of the Kara International
Film Festival (Karachi) and Sabeena Gadihoke,
teacher at the Jamia Millia School of Mass Communication
(New Delhi). The film adjudged best will receive
the "Ram Bahadur Trophy" in addition
to a purse of USD 2000. The second best film will
also be given a cash award. A Best Debut Film
award has been instituted this year, in order
to encourage first-time filmmakers.
The 43 films selected for screening were chosen
from a total of 189 entries. As in earlier years,
India with its tradition of documentary-making
will have the largest number of films at the FSA
'05, taking in the entire 'spread' of the country.
Paksitan and Bangladesh have impressive lineups
for FSA'05 while Sri Lanka and Nepal will have
a more modest presence. There are also films on
South Asian subjects based in Afghanistan, Burma,
Canada and South Africa.
"Every time, we are more impressed with
the intensity, diversity and craft evident in
the documentaries submitted to us," says
Manesh Shrestha, director of the festival. "The
non-fiction films of FSA '05 celebrate South Asian
life and livelihood even more than before. The
audience is in for a treat."
The first edition of Film South Asia was held
in 1997, after which there have been festivals
in 1999, 2001 and 2003. The festival has emerged
as the only one of its kind, bringing together
at one venue documentaries made in the various
countries and sub-regions of South Asia. The festival
also serves as a get-together of documentary filmmakers
and connossieurs from the different parts, a place
for renewing energy and exchanging ideas.
This year, say the organizers, special arrangements
have been made for air travel and accommodation
in order to attract audience from other Southasian
cities to Kathmandu. Audiences elsewhere will
be able to view a special selection of FSA '05
films through the Traveling Film South Asia (TFSA),
in which 15 outstanding productions will go to
up to 50 venues in South Asia and the West.
The four days of Film South Asia will be followed
by a two-day showcase of films from all over the
world on political violence under the section
"Barrel of the Gun". Says festival director
Shrestha, "This is an attempt to bring to
the Kathmandu audience some of the finest fiction
and non-fiction from all over the world on how
the people get hurt when there is resort to political
violence by those who rebel and by the state."
The Film South Asia festival is a joint endeavour
of the non-profit Himal Association and Himal
Southasian, the regional magazine.
(The list of 43 films to be screened at FSA
'05 is attached to this press release. These can
also be downloaded from the festival website at
www.himalassociation.org/fsa)
Contact: Reshu Aryal, Coordinator, FSA '05
Email: fsa@himalassociation.org
reshua@himalmag.org
Tel: 5542544/ 5543333
Mobile: 98510 13954
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