NIIF selected 63 films from 31 countries

KATHMANDU: The list of films participating in the Nepal International Film Festival (NIFF) has been made public. According to Nepal Film and Cultural Foundation, out of 450 films from 52 countries, 63 films have been selected for the festival to be held from 6 to 10 May.

“Out of the films that get high marks based on the number given by our internal selection committee, 63 films from 31 countries have been selected for the 4th Nepal International Film Festival,” the NIIF said in a statement.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, some of the films could not come under the Nepali feature film competition due to security reasons. Therefore, only the list of 63 selected films has been made public by NIIF.

The festival, which is supposed to be held in February/March, has been postponed to May due to Covid-19.

The festival, which started with the slogan ‘Celebration of stories from the world’, with the objective of developing ‘film culture’, has added a genre of films on pandemic this year. The winner of the Best Pandemic Film category will receive a US$ 500 prize, according to the organizers.

Under the international competition, the best feature film will be awarded the Gautam Buddha Award with US$ 1,500 and the film will receive the IFFS Don Quixote Award on behalf of the jury of the International Federation of Film Societies.

On the international side, the best documentary will be awarded the Mount Everest Award of US$ 1,000, the best animated film will be awarded the Manjushree Award (US$750), and the best short film will receive Bagmati Award (US$500).

Similarly, NRs. one lakh will be given to the best feature film and NRs. 50,000 will be given to the best short film under Nepali competition.