Festival of select documentaries from South Asia

A festival of 10 non fiction films from South Asian countries made in the last two years, encapsulating the flavour of the Subcontinent begins here today.
Films from Burma, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka are included in the four-day 'Travelling Film SouthAsia 2016' organised in collaboration with The Southasian Trust, Kathmandu, at the India International Centre.
The event concludes on August 20.
"The festival includes the award winners of Film South Asia Festival 2015, Kathmandu as well as other films selected to showcase the variety, treatment and intensity that marks the world of Southasian documentary and non-fiction," organisers said.

Kicking off the festival is 'News from Jaffna' from Sri Lanka a 28 minute documentary directed by Kannan Arunasalam, and tells the story of a young reporter dares to cover press freedom in one of the world's most dangerous places for journalists.
'The Journey Within' (Pakistan) directed by Mian Adnan Ahmad showcases the inspirational journey of a music show to help reclaim the rich and vast musical heritage of Pakistan post 9/11, that brings together unique talents of various cultural backgrounds and genres including but not limited to folk, sufi, rock, pop and rap music.

The second day, on August 18, begins with a screening of 'Tyres' from Burma. Directed by Kyaw Myo Lwin, the 30 minutes observational documentary, screened entirely in black and white has been a recipient of the Kathmandu Post Award for Student Film Film, South Asia Festival, Kathmandu 2015; Best Student Film and Best Student Cinematography Award at Palm Springs International Short Film Festival.

The third day sees a screening of 'Drawing the Tiger' from Nepal directed by Ramyata Limbu, Amy Benson and Scott Squire.
The film recieved the UNICEF Award for Best Film on Children's Issues at the Film Southasia Festival, Kathmandu 2015.
Filmed over seven years, the documentary is an intimate portrait of a family in Nepal who get a chance to break their cycle of poverty. Their brightest child is awarded a scholarship to attend school in the city. When she doesn't return home, the family is forced to survive without her and the opportunity they believed would change their fate.

The concluding day sees screening of two films 'Cities of Sleep' (India) directed by Shaunak Sen and 'My Name is Salt' (India) directed by Farida Pacha.
The former is set in a world where just being able to secure a good night's sleep often becomes a matter of life and death. The film enters a heady world of night-shelters, improvised sleeping spots and the infamous 'sleep mafia' of Delhi to look at the enormous influence the otherwise banal activity of sleeping is able to exert on a large number of people.
Pacha's film has won multiple awards including Golden Award for Medium Film at Aljazeera International Documentary Film Festival 2015 and the international Jury Award for Best Cinematography, Mumbai International Documentary, Short and Animation Film Festival 2016 etc.

The Film Southasia (FSA) is a biennial festival was set up in 1997 with the goal of popularising the documentary so that it entertains, informs and changes lives.
In addition to the festival that takes place in Kathmandu every two years, FSA organizes screenings, discussions and workshops across Southasia to promote Southasian non-fiction within the Subcontinent and around the world.
After each FSA festival, about a dozen films are selected to travel across the subcontinent and the world as the Travelling Film Southasia (TFSA) package. This mobile campaign to promote and popularise Southasian documentaries stops at more than 50 international venues between the parent FSA festivals that are held every two years in Kathmandu.