The South-Asian regional level documentary film festival, Film Southasia (FSA), has announced the list of films to be screened at the upcoming edition of the fest, to take place in Kathmandu starting November 2. 

FSA’17 will see the screening of a total of 63 films this year from all eight countries in SAARC, including two films, 32 Souls by Sai Naw Kham and Burma Storybook by Petr Lom and Corinne van Egeraat, from Myanmar. Among the films to be screened are 12 documentaries of dissent and six student films. 

Notables among the chosen films include The Scar by Pradip Ghosh (Bangladesh, 2016); Save Gangamaya by Gopal Shivakoti (Nepal, 2016); K2 and the Invisible Footmen by Iara Lee (Pakistan, 2015); and Born Behind Bars by Malati Rao (India, 2016). 

The films were selected out of over 300 entries. “Valuing the craft and significance of the story alike, they [the selected films] also kept an eye on including all areas of this vast region,” reads a press not issued by organisers announcing the line up.

The selected films will be judged by a panel of jury which includes journalist Kunda Dixit (Nepal), Farjad Nabi (Pakistan) and Rajashri Dasgupta (India). 

This year marks the 20th year of the establishment of Film Southasia. On the objective of the fest, the organisers say, “Film Southasia believes that film is a powerful medium that helps to not only in better representing the region internationally, but also contributes immensely in introspection and initiatives to bring change at the local level.”

A Walnut Tree by Ammar Aziz was honoured as the Best Film at the last iteration of the fest, in 2015.