According to the president of All Nepal People´s Cultural Federation Ishwar Chandra Gyawali, the ban was withdrawn after an agreement between the federation and entrepreneurs, artists and organization related to the cinema in view of Dashain and Tihar festivals. [break]
He said, "We have withdrawn the move after the first phase of protests. We will launch our second phase protests soon after the festivals if the government did not address our demands and regulate foreign movies.
Basanta Manandhar, distribution manager of QFX Multiplex, said they have startd screening foreign movies at the request of the Film Association of Nepal. "But the cinema halls on the first day were almost vacant because of the gap," he said.
The Maoist party had banned foreign movies from Oct 1 purportedly to promote the Nepali film industry and to block "foreign cultural invasion". The ban cost the Nepali cinema industry millions of rupees in losses, according to stakeholders.
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