Bhaktapur Film Festival to Celebrate Independent Cinema on Chaitra 6 and 7

Bhaktapur — A group of passionate young filmmakers from Bhaktapur is set to put their city on Nepal's independent film map. The inaugural Bhaktapur Film Festival will take place on Chaitra 6 and 7 at the Nepal Vocational Academy in Kamalvinayak, Bhaktapur — marking the first time the historic city will host a dedicated film festival of this kind.

The festival is being organized by a collective of emerging local filmmakers including Kiran Kilambu, Safal Vaidya, Smit Giri, Bikesh Prajapati, Saksham KC, and Pravin Takki, among others. Festival director Kiran Kilambu — who has previously worked on popular Nepali films such as Kabaddi 4, Phoolbari, Dimag Kharab, Pheri Resham Philili, and Degree Maila — described the event as a homecoming of sorts.

"Bhaktapur is our birthplace," Kilambu said. "We are organizing this festival here for the first time with the aim of developing the art and culture of this city and giving a platform to new filmmakers."

Festival coordinator Smit Giri, who studied film at Everest Academy alongside co-coordinator Safal Vaidya, echoed that sentiment. "We started this festival to give a platform to independent filmmakers who are creating films on their own terms," he said. "Promoting cinema literacy is also a key goal of this event."

Over the two-day festival, 24 films will be screened across a diverse and compelling lineup. The festival will open with Navin Subba's Gaun Aako Bato, and will feature acclaimed works including Sujit Bidari's Aina Jhalko Putali, Ankit Poudel's Song of Clouds, Kiran Shrestha's At Another Winter, and the documentary Dhorpatan by Rajan Kathet and Sunir Pande. Two films celebrating Newa culture — Kija Puja and Newa Buddhism in Nepal — will also be screened, reflecting the festival's deep roots in Bhaktapur's rich cultural heritage. The closing film will be Sandesh Bhurtel's documentary Mother Rebecca.

Adding to the festivities, filmmaker Keshav Pande will conduct a screenwriting workshop on the day before the festival opens. Additionally, on Falgun 30, the festival will collaborate with Rushel Shilpakar to organize a Heritage Walk through Bhaktapur — weaving together cinema and the city's extraordinary living history.