Report 2002

Festival Objectives
Bringing together 52 of the best mountain films produced over the last four years, the Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival was held from 5-8 December, 2002 at the Russian Cultural Centre in downtown Kathmandu amidst overwhelming public response.

The 51 films, documentaries and features, were selected from 108 high-quality entries. The range of presentations, from 23 countries, included anthropological films, alpine documentation, archival footage, adventure cinema, experimental shorts, light-hearted commentary, and feature films.

The festival brought together 25 film representatives from 10 countries, including Nepal, in a non-competitive venue to appreciate each other's works and to discuss ideas and issues related to highland dwellers, cultures and environment.

Organised with the objective of fostering an understanding of the world’s highlands, mountain cultures and mountain sensibilities, the festival included discussion forums, on-demand screenings and informal gatherings bringing together filmmakers with critics, scholars, film connoisseurs, the media and the general public.

In the hope that the films screened would attract peer review and critiques that would lead to better documentation of mountain issues, particularly of highland regions of the developing world, the festival featured a number of documentaries from such regions. The festival’s main aim was to educate, inform and of course, entertain viewers about life and times in the mountain regions from the Andes to the Tatra, to the Himalaya.

By holding the festival every other year, and in time, by making it an annual event, the Association seeks to develop Kathmandu as a cultural destination - a must on the itinerary of the international traveler.

Oganised by Himal Association, the not-for-profit group based in Patan which seeks to inform the people of the Himalaya on issues related to their lives and times, the festival was supported by Eco Himal, an Austrian organisation dedicated to improving the living conditions of the people of the Himalaya by focusing on ecological, social and cultural aspects. The year 2002 has been recognised by the United Nations as the International Year of the Mountain. As part of the International Year of the Mountain 2002 celebrations, the Swiss Development Cooperation Agency SDC, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development ICIMOD, and World Wildlife Fund for Nature, Nepal also supported the festival. Nepal Mountaineering Association NMA largely supported the international symposium International Trends on Himalayan Climbing. The Nepal Mountaineering Federation and Hotel Association Nepal HAN also contributed to the success of the festival.

Implementation
From November 2001, Festival Director Ramyata Limbu, began soliciting films from around the world. She contacted international mountain film festivals in Europe, Canada, USA, India and Japan for addresses/information of films and filmmakers. Information about Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival 2002 was put up on various film festival-related sites. About 2000 entry forms were printed and sent to filmmakers, TV companies, film companies, mountaineering associations, and film archives around the world.

A film festival catalogue was printed with the support of the distributor bitarak.com. Synopses of the 51 films selected were printed along with accompanying photographs. The catalogue included the festival director's address, an introduction of Elizabeth Hawley, Himalayan climbing historian who was felicitated during the festival, and the introductions of the five speakers at the international symposium on Himalayan Climbing: Doug Scott (UK), Harish Kapadia (India), Stipe Bozic (Croatia), Nawang Gombu (India), Tashi Jangbu Sherpa (Nepal), Dr Harka Gurung (Nepal). It also included an introduction of Kevin Bubriski, an American photographer whose works on the Himalayan region were on display, and an introduction of Stipe Bozic, mountaineer and filmmaker, who presented a lecture on Filming Holy Mountains around the World. Altogether 4000 catalogues were printed. They were sold at a nominal price of Rs. 20/- during the festival. A copy each was sent to all the filmmakers who had sent in entries. Some were distributed to film clubs, sponsors, alpine associations and other mountain film festivals around the world. The catalogue's ISBN is 99933 43 41 2.

A Kathmandu International Mountain Film festival website, providing all the information about the festival, was created. Updated information, including photographs taken during the festival, are available on the domain, www.himalassociation.org/kimff.

A preview committee, comprising of seven people: Basanta Thapa (Executive Director of Himal Association), Deepak Thapa (Book Editor at Himal Association), Mohan Mainali (documentary film producer), Ramyata Limbu (Festival Director), Anagha Neelakantan (film critic), and Sruti Devi (Associate Editor at Himal South Asian Magazine selected the films to be screened at the festival.

The Festival Committee, comprising directors Basanta Thapa, Kanak Mani Dixit, Manesh Shrestha, Deepak Thapa, and festival director Ramyata Limbu, coordinated the various festival events. Renchin Yonjon coordinated the special section on celebrating Mountain Women while Sudarshan Karki oversaw the technical aspects of the festival.

From 5-8 December, films were screened back to back in two halls at the Russian Cultural Centre in Kamaladi, Kathmandu. Each screening, where the filmmaker was present, was followed by a 15-minute floor discussion.

Equipment-loans from several Kathmandu-based organisations made it possible to cut down screening costs over the four days of the festival. The voluntary contribution of time and energy by film lovers from near and far ensured that the festival ran smoothly.

Owing to limited funds, the festival organising committee decided not to have a competitive festival with cash prizes. However, viewer participation was ensured by setting up an Audience Award. The festival hopes to have cash prizes in its next edition. This is likely to encourage more filmmakers to send in international award-winning films for festival.

Problems
One of the major problems that Himal Association has faced organising film festivals is the unavailability of screening equipments. Much of the technical equipment is not readily available and even if it is, it is extremely expensive to hire. Also, there is at times the problem of compatible systems. So far the Association has operated on the good will of Kathmandu-based organisations. But in future it may be imperative to acquire a digitally operated audio-visual set-up, which would solve this problem. This equipment, however, requires a huge investment that the Association cannot afford. Therefore, it is looking for likely organisations that would be interested in supporting this endeavour. Acquiring this equipment would lessen the trouble and tension of having to depend on organisations that sometimes have their own programmes to run.

Another problem is the lack of a screening venue. So far, the Russian Cultural Centre has been an ideal venue. But as the festivals grow, the venue appears increasingly smaller. Birendra Convention Centre and the City Hall are alternatives. But their rentals are expensive and with the kind of budget we normally work with it is beyond our means to hire such venues.

Highlights
As part of the festival Croatian climber and filmmaker Stipe Bozic gave a lecture and slide presentation on “Filming Holy Mountains Around the World”. The lecture was well attended and the audience enthusiastically took part in the discussion that followed the lecture.

An afternoon was devoted to the celebration of mountain women with a special selection of films and a discussion with invited speakers on Women as seen through the eyes of 'Numafung'

The public enjoyed a display of photos by Kevin Bubriski, a one-time Peace Corps volunteer in Nepal. The exhibition was held in the venue foyer.

Reticent Wall, a documentary about Slovenian ace climber Tomaz Humar's 15-day solo climb in El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, known for the best wall climbing in the world with one of the hardest technical routes won the festival’s ‘Audience Award’. The award, a bronze mountain coated with silver, was designed for the festival by artist Subash Rai.

The festival's opening film A Man Called Nomad, in which a Tibetan nomad tries to manage the old ways and the new, and The Living of Jogimara, a documentary about how families from Jogimara mourn the loss of able-bodied men killed by security, raised points of interest for both Nepali and foreign film enthusiasts present. Local government authorities did attempt to stop the screening of the second film during the festival. A notice was published in several newspapers following the festival saying that all films to be screened at future festivals should first be watched by a censor board.

Achievements
At Himal Association we started on the road of organising film festivals with Film Himalaya '94 – the first-ever festival on films and documentaries on the Himalayan region. This took a bigger form in December 2000, when the first edition of Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival was held. Other festivals organized by Himal Association Film South Asia ’97, the first-ever coming together of non-fiction films and then Film South Asia ’99 and Film South Asia' 2001 – a lineup of offerings prove that the subcontinent is producing more and better documentaries.

The Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival 2002 has been successful in recreating in the Valley the festival spirit and purposefulness, which marked the previous festivals organised by Himal Association. This year the Association is holding Film South Asia '2003.

The festival's success and the overwhelming public response, has put the Valley on the map of international festivals. This will ensure that the next edition of the festival in 2004 will receive a larger viewership.

The Association is equally keen to get the support of local organisations like the Nepal Tourism Board, Kathmandu Municipality and the Nepal Mountaineering Association to ensure that the festival becomes a truly local event from which all these orgainsations, the City of Kathmandu and the Nepali public will benefit. We are also looking at sponsorship by big adventure outfits and local businesses.