Durkin further praised the film for its range of techniques, terming it as an “authentic film with a dramatic twist.’ The 75-minute film is in stark contrast to Nepal’s calm mountainous image.[break]
Receiving the award, the 31-year-old director remarked, “Aba ke bhanne (What shall I say now?) in Nepali. His love for Nepali and Nepal is not new; it dates back to 1998 when he arrived in Nepal as a young 19 year-old-boy. Since then, he has made the country his workplace, flying to UK in between.
The hugely optimistic director shot “Sick City” in a mini DVD format last year starting June through August – taking a total of six weeks. The cost of the film sans post-production totaled Rs 4, 00,000. He was funded by his friends from back in film school.
Attending the Westminster School of Film and Television, Kerr is thankful that he was able to meet a group of like-minded individuals and get hands-on-knowledge of film making.
Although a fictional film, “Sick City” is a reflection of his meeting with real life characters. “I lived in Thamel for six months,” he recalled. He was then working as a photographer. “I met a number of hustlers and was able to observe their fight for survival,” he said.
These close encounters formed the basis for the instinctive, desperate nature of his characters in the film.
A huge fan of Gurukul theatre, Narayan Gopal and Deep Shrestha, he didn’t hesitate to sing one of Shrestha’s songs “Biteka Kura…”
The Nepali pronunciation was impeccable. “Nepal’s the best country in the world. It’s the place where I met the love of my life - my wife,” he put in, adding, “I could never imagine making films in England. But Nepal inspires me. I see huge potential in Nepali film making. The next five years are going to be wonderful.”
Kerr is currently working on his next feature film entitled, “The Outsider”. The film will be shot in Jomsom and it has big names from the Nepali film fraternity including the lead actor of “Sick City” - Arpan Thapa.
Someone who regards Italian director Sergio Leone to be his godfather, the film-maker admires works of Japanese director Akira Kurosawa and English director Ken Loach. He defines his film-making style as colorful with the infusion of energy. He loves to move his camera and use real life character than known actors.
Being an innate story teller, he equates documentary-making with journalism and enjoys making feature films.
He also shared that “Kagbeni”, the film by Bhusan Dahal, was one of his favorite Nepali films. “It made a huge leap for Nepali films.”
Kerr is looking forward to watching “Acharya”, a Nepali film, currently in production. “I have heard many good things about the film,” he said.
From his first film “The Cigarette”, which he made when he was 15, Kerr has come a long way and his future projects look promising.
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