KATHMANDU
Nepal Motion Picture Association in association with Digital Cinema Nepal, and the UN Development Programme jointly launched screenings of an UN-backed global campaign film, on Friday. The Nepali version of the short feature – Don’t Choose Extinction – starring Frankie the dinosaur, will be screened in more than 100 QFX and big cinema halls, across the country, over the next two weeks.  

According to a statement issued by UNDP, the film, which is part of a global ‘Don’t Choose Extinction’ campaign, was released early this month, to advocate for an end to fossil fuel subsidies and inequality. In the film, a dinosaur named Frankie, storms into the UN General Assembly Hall and delivers a powerful speech, warning humans of extinction, if no concrete actions are taken now, to reduce carbon emission. 

The campaign amplifies findings from a new UN-led study, “Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform: Lessons and Opportunities,” which calls for countries to phase out subsidies that support fossil fuels. “We are honored to be part of this global campaign and contribute to a noble cause of warning humanity not to choose extinction,” the statement quotes Madhu Sudhan Pradhan, President of the Nepal Motion Picture Association as saying.

Similarly, it added, Neer Shah, one of Nepal’s premier film stars who voiced the Nepali version of the film, saying “I have played my roles in different cinemas, directed several of them. But for this one: what I have said in the voice of a dinosaur, I mean it. This has touched my heart and I believe the message that humanity must still make a choice today is most compelling.”