Gauthali Entertainment, a feminist film-making platform, organised a documentary screening and educational programme titled ‘Doc Talk’ on May 5. The highlight of the programme was a feature documentary called ‘Urmi’ by acclaimed director Pranay Limbu. The film followed the life of a retired British Gurkha Army Purna Gurung, dealing with the aftermath of his son, Bimal’s death. Gurung grapples with not being able to spend ample time with his son during his younger days. After Bimal’s untimely death at just 20 years old, Gurung established the ‘Bimal Memorial Library’ at Dharan’s Buddha Chowk. The movie follows Gurung’s continuous effort to preserve the library–despite financial restrictions–and his effort to learn more about his son from Bimal’s school teachers and friends.

After the screening, journalist Sewa Bhattarai conversed with director Limbu about the inspirations and ideas behind the documentary. The floor was then opened up for questions. ‘Doc Talk’ was a platform for film-making students to get in touch with established filmmakers and learn the know-how of independent filmmaking. Moreover, selected aspiring filmmakers also screen their own documentaries. They were ‘Bearer of Glass Beads’ by Pratibha Pant, ‘Lalita’ by Pushpa Joshi and Angela Chaudhary, ‘Through the Singing Villages’ by Samrat Khanal, and ‘Mero Buwa’ by Shrisha Kunwar and Angela Chaudhary were showcased. The event occurred at CTC Mall’s CDC Cinemas from 3 pm to 6 pm.

The event will continue on May 6 when Prasuna Dongol will screen her feature debut ‘Before You Were My Mother’. The film explores the relationship between Dongol and her mother, mainly through their travel to Manipur, India. Previously, her documentary ‘Dolpa Diary’ was screened at festivals in and outside Nepal and awarded the ‘Best Adventure Film’ at KIMFF 2019. She also won ‘Best Woman Filmmaker’ at Human Rights International Film Festival in 2019. Prasuna’s work broadly concerns collective memory and an in-depth account of personal experiences. As for the student section, ‘Yatra’ by Sahayog Raj Adhikari and LSM, ‘1 Rupee’ by Meera Khadka and Asmita Lawati, ‘Drifting Clouds’ by Deepa Shrestha, and ‘Mother’s School’ by Shuvangi Khadka, will be screened on May 6.

“There is an established culture of documentary cinema across the world, although

here they are generally misunderstood as visual journalism, commissioned work or

info-videos,” says organising team member Sunir Pandey. “We want to showcase the stellar work being done by Nepali filmmakers and encourage young directors to take up documentary making.”

The event will continue till May 6.