Various schools have been bringing their students to the Nepal Tourism Board and the City hall at Bhrikuti Mandap to witness the 6th edition of Nepal International Indigenous Film Festival (NIIFF) everyday including the weekend. [break]
The students at the fest, however, seemed to have had no complains about leaving home in uniforms on a weekly holiday.
“This is so much better than staying at home and doing nothing,” said Sabina Neupane who accompanied Roji and her entire class to the event.
The festival began on Thursday with over 70 films and documentaries from 20 countries including Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Tanzania, Mexico and Finland and has been drawing huge crowd.
Nepal is presenting a total of 27 films at the festival and the documentaries and shorts have come from various communities like the Chepang, Magar, Tharu and Limbu.
The films, however, aren’t the only attraction at NIIFF. The food festival organized at the same event is bustling with people celebrating indigenous cuisine.
The fact that young people are involved in preparing and serving dishes belonging to their community has contributed in making the event a huge hit. There are stalls displaying Newari, Tharu, Magar, Dhimal, Majhi and Lohorung cuisine among others.
Subash Ale, 23, has been busy at the Magar food stall since the first day of the fest. Dressed in a cultural Magar attire, Subash is serving the crowd with freshly made kodo ko roti and organic sishnu ko saag. A management student at Public Youth Campus, he jumped at the opportunity to have a stall at the festival.
“I knew about the film festival but when I learnt about the food fest, I thought it was a good opportunity to not only showcase my culture but also do some business,” he shared.
Selling more than 20 kilos of sel roti and kodo ko roti each day Subash is happy with the business he is doing making a profit of “almost 50 percent.”
The customers at his stall are not only local visitors but his dishes are famous with foreigners too. A visitor from Taiwan, he shares, comes thrice a day for the kodo ko roti.
Daniel lewis, a visitor at the festival, shared his delight about what he called his discovery. “The roasted duck was a delight, although a bit spicy, I have had nothing like it my entire life.”
Daniel’s discovery was made at the Tharu food stall, that had young Tharu girls preparing and sharing various exotic delights including dhikiri, a delicacy prepared with steamed rice flour and ghonghi, seafood.
Jyoti Dhimal, 21, a management student at Brilliant Multiple Campus, displayed a stall stuffed with Dhimal delicacies. She shared that, she was having a “really good time,” at the festival. A food enthusiast, Jyoti likes cooking traditional cuisine even at home, especially various pickles.
Asked what is the favorite dish among the visitors and she points towards, Chichiri Bhat. A delicacy among the Dhimals, this dish is prepared with special rice and cooked only in steam.
Jyoti, although busy with her little kitchen, everyday at the film festival, hopes she can manage to watch a film or two, on the last day.
The sixth edition of NIIFF which is supported by Nepal Foundation for Development of Indigenous Nationalities, Taiwan Indigenous TV, Nepal Film Development Board, and Nepal
Tourism Board is set to draw curtains on Sunday.
The tickets per show have been priced at Rs 30 each with 50% discount for students. The festival starts at 10 am and ends at 7 pm.
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