Photo: Min Bahadur Bham’s Facebook

Nepali filmmaker Min Bahadur Bham’s upcoming movie ‘A Year of Cold’ bagged the Norwegian Sorfond Award at the 72 Cannes Film Festival 2019, Paris.

Among 52 applicants, Bham’s project conferred the award with cash prize $60,000. Besides, other projects including Afghanistan’s ‘The Postman’, China’s ‘The Stranger’, Egypt’s ‘As I Want’, South Africa’s ‘How to Steal a Country’, Georgia’s ‘Venice’ also received the award.

Directed by Bham, the movie is about a pregnant woman’s (Pema) journey to find her missing husband in the Himalayas. She seeks help from a Buddhist monk, Karma. This journey later transforms their lives.

As per a statement issued in Sorfond’s official websites, Bham’s project tackles the daily struggle for the rights and recognition of women in a deeply patriarchal society. Also, the jury found it interesting that the script poetically portrays both Nepal's breath-taking sceneries and rich cultural traits, through the main character's liberating journey.