Nepal International Film Festival (NIFF) is set to start its 6th iteration. A press meet was organised on Wednesday marking the start of the event. The event will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on March 16 at QFX Civil Mall. 

NIFF is organised by Nepal Flim and Cultural Academy. In the opening, a movie titled ‘Chari’ directed by Kerin Sharma will be screened.

KP Pathak, the chair of NIFF, revealed that out of 500 films submitted from over 50 countries, 95 were selected for the final competition. Eight of these 95 films will be awarded under different categories like short films, feature films and documentaries.

‘The Gautama Buddha Award’ will be given to the best international feature film, with a cash prize of $1500. ‘The Mt Everest Award’ will be given to the best international documentary film, with a cash prize of $1000.

Two of the films made by Nepali filmmakers will receive the National Feature Film and the National Short Film award, with cash prizes of Rs100,000 and Rs50,000 respectively.

“We have a very devoted audience for each edition of our festival. This time we hope to bring in newer audiences,” says Pathak. He thinks that the QFX cinema venues will help attract a more diverse audience. NIFF will continue till March 20.