Please spare 5 minutes of your time for me to explain how you could be a part of a larger documentary movement in Nepal. 

To begin with, you have landed at Kathaharu’s website, a production company based in Kathmandu, Nepal. Nepal that is famous for Everest, discouraged for the rough terrains, once beguiled by hippies in the 70s, and now hopelessly loved for the hospitality.

But no one knows it for its stories. And there are quite impactful, introspective ones at that.

The four images below will help elucidate this fact.

Here you see two women hard at work. At a distance, it will be seen and forgotten for the beautiful scenery this creates. But what it actually is is two elderly women, out of the many elderlies in the area, who had to build back an entire village which was brought to the grounds during the massive Earthquake in 2015. Where are the youths, you ask? All have migrated for better opportunities. This is the story of most villages and cities in Nepal.

In this one, you see a mother-daughter. This is Dolpa, a far flung village, in the far west of Nepal. Despite the mountains, the tourism here is low because it still remains inaccessible due to dire road conditions. This mother-daughter have managed to walk for days just to attend a festival that happened after 21 years. This festival is significant for praying for the warding off of evil spirits, and keeping the mountains pure. But has that really been the case with increasing breakdown of the society that is constantly seeking and reveling in materialism? Has that been true with climate change making such communities vulnerable, even forcing some mountain communities to migrate?

Talking of festivals and development, Lalitpur, a city in Kathmandu has been able to host a 1600 years old festival every year, successfully. Here you see a woman who holds a torch marking an end to a month-long festival that celebrates the monsoon, and prays to the rain god for a good harvest. How it has managed to be sustained, how it still is a big festival in Kathmandu – with all the pressures of development and urbanization – is a story on its own. A well knit community trains its youth to carry out the festival which sees the pulling of a 60 foot tall chariot – all hands and no equipment.

In what we call the plains – stretching across the length of Nepal and shares borders with India life is equally difficult. Two people carrying a heavy stack of wood they have collected from the forest. The journey, however, is not a stroll in the neighborhood, but a one hour walk every day. The couple cross two forests just so that they can cook their meals. Who will tell their stories to the world?

We want to, with every energy left in our bodies, help filmmakers tell stories of a world that is never noticed. We want to be the forebears of this story, we want to bring these out. But we also realize, we cannot do this on our own. It needs a community of like minded individuals with the same passion, the same energy to get this rolling. And here is where you come in. We welcome you to join the boat which is sailing towards this vision.

This is where you come in.

Kathaharu has been a strong advocate of filmmakers and their unique voices. In Nepal, those who make films are the few fortunate who have the access and the reach to funds. The others, unfortunately, are either dismissed due to inexperience or simply – because they are not known faces in the crowd.

But, we believe, anybody who wants to has a strong story to tell. It is a matter of guidance. This guidance comes from a community of like-minded individuals.

To create a creative community, we need creators. To foster a community of creators, we need collaboration. You can be that collaborator. How?

Support us in any of the following:

• Pledge to provide funds to support international mentorship for a Nepali filmmaker
• Pledge to provide development assistance (funds or equipment) to a filmmaker
• Pledge to provide at least three networking opportunities for the filmmaker with film stakeholders that align with the issue of their interest
• We love to get feedback on our work. Let’s get in touch and discuss our upcoming programs.

Kathaharu is currently working on building a rigorous program that will help emerging documentary makers to access mentors and pitching platforms.

If you are still not convinced, let’s talk more. Let us know how we can improve, how we can grow. Anything that will help us make our dream of seeing stories of Nepal become reality.

For more info, please get in touch: smritib@kathaharu.com | Images © Merit Maharjan