Suchitra Shrestha, who is lauded as the first woman director in Kollywood, has been elected the first woman president of the Film Director’s Guild of Nepal. In an election during the weekend, Shrestha trumped director Raju KC with a total of 69 votes.

During the election for the new executive officers for the guild, Rakshya Singh Rana and Deepak Khad were also elected as vice presidents. Established in 2001, the Film Director’s Guild of Nepal is a collective of Nepali movie directors who work  towards developing and promoting social, economic issues and cultures of Nepal through the medium of cinema.

The guild also works towards raising the issues surrounding marginalised communities, human rights violations and the rule of law through the silver screen.

Previously, Shrestha had broken Kollywood’s glass-ceilings by directing the movie Prem Yudha, starring the late Shree Krishna Shrestha. Although a handful of other women directors, including Dipa Basnet and Rekha Thapa, have directed Nepali movies of late, women remain glaringly under-represented behind the cameras in Kollywood.