The seventh edition of the Nepal International Film Festival (NIFF) will be held from the 1st to the 5th of Chaitra. On Tuesday, during a program held at the hall of the Nepal Tourism Board, the organizing organization Nepal Film and Cultural Academy also announced the ‘lineup’ of films to be screened at the festival. During the five-day festival, 88 films from 40 countries will be screened.
For this year’s festival, more than 500 films were received from 60 countries; the chairman of the festival, KP Pathak, said that 88 films from 40 countries have been selected for this edition.
Some of the films selected at NIF this time have been screened at prestigious festivals such as Cannes, Locarno, Berlin, etc. In NIFF, awards will be divided into two categories: national and international, and awards will be distributed in the categories of feature films, short films, and documentaries. Along with the screening of the films in competition, workshops, discussions, and interaction programs related to various genres of filmmaking will also be organized throughout the festival period.
The films to be screened at the festival will be screened at Civil Mall, Labim Mall, Bhaktapur, and Chayaan Center under the QFX chain in Kathmandu. NIFF, which has completed some editions in Mofusal, is preparing to expand the festival to the province starting this year. In the festival to be held in the province, the feature films that are popular with the audience will be screened along with the winners of the festival. The date and location of the festival will be announced shortly.
The Gautam Buddha Award will be given to the best feature film under international competition at the festival, along with USD 1500. Similarly, one of the national and international feature films will be given the International Federation of Film Societies (IFFS) Don Award.
At the festival, the best documentary film will be awarded the Mount Everest Award of USD 1000, and the best short film will be awarded the Bagmati Award of USD 500. Similarly, under the Nepali competition, 1 lakh cash and a trophy will be awarded to the best feature film, and 50,000 cash and a trophy to the best short film and the best documentary.
A trophy will be given to the best director from among the short films, and the best director, writer, cinematographer, actor, and actress from the feature film will also be given a trophy, according to KP Pathak, chairman of the Film and Cultural Foundation of the festival organizing organization.
