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

Supportive Men: the documentary

In Nepal, men and women are involved in various ways to shift norms and relationships toward gender equality. This documentary focuses on one community in Kapilvastu, Southern Nepal, to show how men and couples are changing the way they interact with one another to bring about social change, and also how men are supporting women’s movement for empowerment and gender equality. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Mr. Dube is a young man in his late twenties who lives in Kapilvastu, Nepal. He has taken part in a gender equality training given by a local NGO, in partnership with an INGO. He is married and has two sons. In his small community, Mr. Dube has become an inspirational figure who has managed to change the behavior of not just the younger men, but also the older men of his community, who now cook, help with housework and childcare, and support their spouses in a way that was unthinkable...

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.

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