Venice International Film Festival is the oldest and one of the three most prestigious film festivals in the world—the other two being Cannes and Berlin film festivals. Earlier, in 2012, Bham's short film 'Bansuli' had also made it to the Venice Film Festival."This award has inspired, and at the same time challenged, me to work even harder in my next project. I'll do my best to make my next film good enough to compete in the main competition at the Venice Film Festival," said an overwhelmed Bham after having received the award certificate, adding, "I've had oral agreements with few international producers to invest in my upcoming projects. I'll share the good news with everyone as soon as I have a written contract."
Bham plans to invest at least Rs 50 million in his next film. 'Kalo Pothi' was made with an investment of Rs 30 million. "It isn't quite possible to make it to prestigious film festivals and get international market without creative storytelling and strong technological aspect. It's difficult to achieve these standards with meager investment," he opined.
The director shared that the technological facilities in Nepal isn't good enough for the best quality cinematography, sound and mixing. This, he pointed out, to be the main reason why he chose to work with an international director of photography and carry out the film's post production in France. He said, "The grant money from Germany, Switzerland and France, and the special initiative by the producers Anna Katchko and Catherine Dussart from Germany and France respectively, have helped raise the standards of my film."
After the big win, director Bham is more confident and optimistic about 'Kalo Pothi' doing well internationally. "Winning this award is a great leap towards ensuring better distributors worldwide for the film and securing the producers' investment," he said.
Union of Italian Film Critics (SNCCI) has been organizing the 'International Critics' Week' section under the Venice Film Festival since 1984. This year, nine other films beside 'Kalo Pothi' were chosen for the screening in this section, out of which seven films from Italy, Turkey, the UK, Portugal, Singapore, Australia, and Nepal (Kalo Pothi) competed for the award. According to SNCCI, 1,932 films from all over the world had applied to be part of the 30th edition of Critics Week this year.
The films in the competition were evaluated by a jury formed by the Federation of Film Critics of Europe and Mediterranean (FEDEORA). The jury this year consisted of Dubravka Lakic (coordinator), Rita Di Santo, Nenad Dukic and James Evans. Established in 2010 in Cannes, FEDEORA also forms jury in other prestigious film festivals all over the world.
The same jury also decided the awards given away in the categories of Best Director of Photography in Critics' Week, Best European Film, Best Young Director, Best Young Actress, and Venice Days Best Film. The award for the Best Young Director was presented to Ruchika Oberoi from India for her film 'Island City' that "stood out for its surrealistic vision of a quasi-modern world, which is also rooted in the realities of everyday life."
'Kalo Pothi' which was world premiered at the 72nd Venice International Film Festival, will have its Asian premiere at the Busan Film Festival to be held in South Korea in October this year.
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