The now graduate of New York Film Academy´s Documentary Filmmaking Program is working to create her own niche abroad juggling as a freelance cameraperson, editor and production assistant while also interning and working for Cabin Creek Films in New York. [break]
Thanks to technology, myrepublica.com talked to Veronica through ´G-Chat´, to find out more about her ongoing independent project, a documentary titled ´Bahadurs´.
"This will be my first feature length documentary," typed Veronica, who did her schooling from Loreto Convent in Darjeeling and grew up in the same hill station for most part.
The resident of Lagankhel in Patan, directed a short film titled ´Reflections´ as part of her final project at New York Film Academy. The 11.31 minute-long film consists of an off-screen narration juxtaposed with shots from New York City´s famous Central Park.
"Initially, I had wanted to do a verite film on artistes in the streets and subways of New York," explained Veronica, who plays a lot with the depth of field in ´Reflections´. "But some of them were staying here illegally and didn´t want to face the camera and filming inside subways is a big NO," she added.
"Documentary is life," Veronica asserted confidently. "I am excited at the prospect of bringing our culture limiting the sad and depriving stories that is so often portrayed in the media."
"My grandfather and many other relatives were and are in the British Army," she continued, while talking about the concept of her documentary ´Bahadurs´. "When I was in New Delhi, I used to hear ´bahadurs´ being addressed to everyone who was a Nepali. And believe me they didn´t mean this in a good way. It was more like a racial slur," recalled Veronica, whose interests in the arts began with photography and writing.
What does ´bahadur´ actually mean? What is the history of being addressed as a ´bahadur´? Veronica is attempting to answer such questions through her documentary. "Both the history and the present are huge," she stated, "I think even as a Nepali, we tend to overlook that factor."
Veronica´s project is an ambitious one and certainly not an easy one. Working from abroad on a documentary, which is based on Nepal and requires extensive research, sounds superficial and unconvincing at first. Nonetheless, Veronica is determined.
"Budgeting is another aspect for the film. So with pre-production proposals, I am hoping to work toward getting some grants…touch wood!" she expressed. She has made a decision to remain in the USA for quite a while. "Besides, to bring a film to a world-wide audience, this is the place to be."
Chatting on the differences between commercial feature films and documentaries, Veronica opined, "Any fiction, a short or feature, animate or otherwise, is borne out of an idea and one can determine its outcome. You are the master and the puppeteer. In a documentary, however, the camera acts as an onlooker."
For this artist, documentaries are visual poetries of life-be it good, bad, sad or happy.
"Documentary is life," Veronica asserted confidently. "I am excited at the prospect of bringing our culture limiting the sad and depriving stories that is so often portrayed in the media."
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