“My film is a simple documentation of a football team and their journey. It also shows the passion and pain of a sportsman,” informed Girish highlighting the film.[break]
“The film is about these young boys of a youth club from Birgunj who travel to Sonpur in Bihar of India to participate in a football tournament representing Nepal,” said Arpan Sharma, Director – PR of nepa~laya, the producer of the independent film directed by Girish Giri.
Aptly titled “Team Nepal,” the film had premiered in 2005 at Film South Asia, and since then it has traveled to numerous festivals. It was also successful in winning a Mention D’Honneur award at the FICT (Federation Internationale Cinema Television Sportifs) 23rd International Film Festival held in Italy.
“Irrespective of what is going to happen, the boys traveled to India and came back with an experience that changed them for lifetime,” said Arpan, insisting that everyone must watch the documentary.
In addition to the sports element, the film also deals with Indo-Nepal sentiments on a local level between Birgunj (Nepal) and Sonpur (Bihar).
“Normally, inter-country relationship is based on an inter-capital basis. Indo-Nepal relation is no different. It’s a Kathmandu–Delhi-based affair,” said Girish. “But having lived my childhood in Birgunj, I always felt this high-level interpretation was different from local interpretations,” he added.
Team Nepal is also traveling through Nepal at the moment. The film will be screened in five cities of the nation starting today in Itahari. The documentary tour will then proceed to Birgunj on March 13, Kawasoti on March 14, Nepalgunj on March 15, and ends in Butwal on March 16.
The tour is being organized by nepa~laya with support from B.P. Koirala India-Nepal Foundation. Entry is free on first-come-first basis.
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