Human Rights Film festival concluded in Kathmandu

Human rights advocacy through films

Himalayan News Service

KATHMANDU: The Human Rights Film Festival (HRFF) which began on August 27 concluded on October 1 with the screening of Kesang Tseten’s The Desert Eats Us.

Tseten’s movie that highlights the plight of Nepali workers in Qatar was also the opening movie of the festival. In the movie Tseten has captured the life of migrants Nepali workers — their condition, their work, their feelings. Director Tseten added, “Just because we are in some other country doesn’t mean we get deprived of human rights.”

Sudesh Siwa from Baluwatar commented on the movie saying, “I felt guilty after seeing the condition of the Nepali people in Qatar but the effort by the director and the film was great.”

The festival focusing on the preservation of human rights and to bring changes in society regarding this was organised by Human Rights Film Centre (HRFC) at the Nepal Tourism Board. The festival screened eight human rights related films from different countries like India, Afghanistan, Iran and Nepal. These films touched upon different aspects of human rights violations like migrant issues, conflict victims and gender discrimination et cetera.

Chairperson of HRFC, Purna Singh Baraily said, “It is important for us to know about our rights. These movies are little effort towards making people aware of their rights.”

Inspired by the oldest film festival — Venice Film Festival — which also showcases and awards human rights related movies, this is the first such film festival here dedicated to human rights issue.

Tseten's documentary closes festival

REPUBLICA

KATHMANDU, Oct 2: The Human Rights Film Festival 2010 ended Friday with the screening of director Kesang Tseten’s documentary, “The desert eats us” at the Nepal Tourism Board, Bhrikutimandap.

“The festival was organized to provide a platform to the issue of human rights. After receiving a good response from audiences, we are planning an international film festival in 2011,” Purnasigh Baraeli, president of the festival, said.

Rakesh Gongaju, program coordinator of the festival, briefed on the festival. He said, “We are proud to have been able to screen touching films from different corners of the world.”

While Baraeli mentioned that despite the postponement of the festival and various hindrances caused by the Film Censor Board, the fiesta was able to conclude on a happy note.

Among the eight films screened in the festival in a span of six weeks, three were Nepali documentaries. They included Dhruba Basnet’s “Baru maridiyeko bhaye hunthyo”, Mohan Mainali’s “Pone’s trousers” and Kesang Tseten’s “The desert eats us”.

Also speaking on the same occasion, Dr Ganesh Gurung, member of the National Planning Commission, highlighted migratory trend in Nepal. He hailed Tseten’s effort to showcase the human rights of Nepali migrants.

Replying to a query from the audience, Tseten, said, “The film was shot in the span of 18 months. I chose the subject of migration because it is very pervasive.”

The documentary is the second in a series of three Tseten worked on documentary about migration of Nepalis to the gulf. The two others are: “In search of the Riyal” and “Saving Dolma”. The latter is set to be screened next month.