PANI (WATER) in Japan

I showed PANI (WATER) to students at Okinamizu University in Tokyo, Japan to a packed and ethusiastic audience of feminist scholars and students. In addition, I gave a talk about justice during Nepal's civil conflict at Tokyo University and also at Amnesty International's Japan group.

Everybody was absolutely fantastic and hospitable, and I kept being reminded by Nepalis working there that "Japanese and Nepalis are the same: we are Asians, we share similar values." I wasn't there long enough to figure that one but I did definitely enjoy my time there...

There was the expected blow-up with the immigration official at the airport, but what's new. The tense relationship with airport officials and the Nepali passport is an ongoing saga. It didn't help that the official holding my passport hostage walked back and forth like some Japanese soldier in a WWII film--that stiff walk that we've seen in too many films to believe is real, until you see it again, eeirely recreated by a Japanese airport bureaucrat. Suffice to say I missed my train to Tokyo after hours and spent the night at a hotel with two other suspects: a Syrian and a Pakistani engineer, both of who were so used to being pulled off and harassed at airports they ate their kebabs and drank their whiskeys and went to sleep with an easy mind, unlike me--I spent the night fuming. We were all pegged on our supposed terrorist connections, I imagine. Perhaps the Japanese airport official, and all other officials of this nature, have a list of Third World countries with a tick next to it saying: "Harass these people. Traumatize them and make sure they never return." Something of this nature. But once past the dragon Japan was fantastic.

Here are some photos:
www.picasaweb.google.com/sansarmagazine

WATER shown in eco-feminism week in Trinity College, Dublin

Isabel Jorgensen invited me to screen WATER at the eco-feminism week (Nov 13-17, 2017) at Trinity College, Dublin. She said she'd seen me present at Oxford University's Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, and thought the film fitted perfectly with the theme of the week. I was already back in Nepal after a summer in Oxford, so I suggested that she present it instead. Isabel said the documentary would be screened at the Museum Building Library, and that "it was by far the most beautiful building and room on campus!" So I googled it up, and indeed, here is the beautiful building . It was inspired by the Byzantine architecture of Venice. Here is her email after the event, after I asked her how it went: Amazing, thanks! Here are some pictures from the event, it went smoothly and there was a lot of good discussion. I gave a 30 minute intro to climate justice and environmental issues and women’s roles in their resolution, we had the a screening an...

Hubert Bals Fund grant

I received a seed grant from the Hubert Bals Fund to write a fiction film script in 1997. The grant gave me support and inspiration when I needed it the most. I found this list of HBF grantees on the web, and am honored to be part of this global film community.

INTERVIEW: Nabin Subba

This interview was published in the Nation Weekly magazine in 2004. KHULA MANCH Nabin Subba (35), the director of the acclaimed film Numafung, talked with Sushma Joshi of The Nation Weekly about his films, the Nepali independent film movement and his visions of nation-building. The Nation: How did Numafung come about? NS: During the pre-democracy days, I worked in journalism for almost a decade, first in Nepali Awaj for 3 years, and then in Deshantar for 5 years. I was doing mainstream reporting. Then I started to focus on art and culture, and later exclusively on film. I was dissatisfied with Nepali films, and would write critiques about them. I had long discussions with my filmmaker friends about making a film that would have a Nepali identity, but they all said it was not possible. They said it would not be commercially viable. So I said, okay, I will have to do it myself. The Nation: So you took it as a challenge? NS: Yes. I wanted to experiment with a Nepali form, one ...

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