Film Journalist Sriju Saral was announced the winner, and Prasun Sangroula was declared the runner-up in the Film Critics Competition organised by the European Union Delegation to Nepal. The winners were announced Tuesday in a program organised by the Delegation to mark the completion of the 2024 Nepal European Union Film Festival (NEUFF).

“I feel honoured to be announced as the winner of this competition,” Saral said, reflecting on the award.

The film reviews were evaluated by a three-member jury comprising senior film journalist and scriptwriter Samipya Raj Timalsena, poet Bimala Tumkhewa, and a Delegation representative.

Saral reviewed the Short Nepali film ‘Phera’ (‘Whirl’), directed by Anil Kurmie, and the Irish film ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’ (directed by Martin McDonagh). Runner-up Sangroula reviewed the Bulgarian movie ‘The Naked Truth About Zhiguli Band’ and the short Nepali film ‘Rato Pachheuri’ (a tale of turmoil, temptation, and triumph) by Miraz Roshan Thakuri.

Fourteen participants entered the competition, each submitting reviews for at least one Nepali short film and one European film showcased at the 2024 NEUFF.

The documentary film ‘Dhye Dreams’, directed by Shanta Nepali, was awarded the Best Short Film. ‘The Bull, The Cow, The Calf’, directed by Swoyan Maskey Manandhar, was given a Special Mention certificate.

The winners and runner-ups of the Film Critics Competition and Short Film Competition will travel to Brussels, Belgium, in early December 2024 to participate in the Nepali Film Festival—the first organised by the Delegation.

Following the completion of the 2024 Nepal European Union Film Festival (NEUFF) in Kathmandu, Mahendranagar, Nepalgunj, and Surkhet, the eastern leg of the festival will be held in Itahari on November 16, 17, and 18, 2024.