The Cinema Times-discussion concluded that there was not enough participation and proper representation of women in Nepali cinemas and media. They stated that there is no interference of women in these sectors and much needed change can only be brought in through perseverance.
‘Presence of Women in Nepali cinema and media’ titled talk program was organized by Kipley Productions in association with British Council in the hall of Nepal Film Development Board, Kathmandu. The British Council has been organizing various events since March 8 to mark International Women’s Day. As part of the program, one day has been allocated as ‘Cinema day’ and opportunities and challenges faced by women in Nepali cinema were discussed in the event.The one day event was divided into three sessions. In the first session, short cinemas made by seven women filmmakers were screened and discussed. The screening session was categorized into 18 years below and above where cinemas made by filmmakers below 18 years of age were also screened.
Similarly, filmmakers who had produced cinemas on grant shared their experiences. Pinky Sirish Rana talked about situation of women in Nepali cinema from feminist perspective and Abhimanyu Dixit discussed about representation of women in Nepali cinema, then and now.
In the third session, a round table discussion was held on the current status, opportunities and challenges of women in Nepali cinemas. In the discussion facilitated by actress Usha Rajak, representatives of organizations working on women empowerment were present.
Plan Nepal’s Rachhya Poudel, Director Shanta Nepali, Nepal Television Program Producer Nita Sapkota, Onion Cinema’s Co-founder Surat Giri, Principle of Nepal Cinema Campus Shishir Upreti, Human Rights Cinema Festival’s Bidhu Majhi, UN Women’s Rabin Rai, Journalist Samipyaraj Timalsena and Kipley’s member Pushpa Joshi participated in the event.
The discussion concluded that there was not enough participation and proper representation of women in Nepali cinemas and media. They stated that there is no interference of women in these sectors and much needed change can only be brought in through perseverance
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