Monday, March 23, 2009

Premiere of the NEW feature length version of "Returned" at Emory's Human Rights Week 2009



On Tuesday March 31st at 7PM we are premiering the new hour long version of "RETURNED: Child Soldiers of Nepal’s Maoist Army". If you are in Atlanta please come to the screening and stay for the short panel discussion with Filmmakers Robert Koenig and Brandon Kohrt afterwards.

Date: Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Time: 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Location: Harland Cinema on Emory's Campus
Street: 605 Asbury Circle, Atlanta, GA 30322 (in the Dobbs University Center)
Phone: 4047274609

The following is more information on the week's events:

HUMAN RIGHTS WEEK CELEBRATED AT EMORY MARCH 30-APRIL 3, 2009

Members of the Emory University community and the greater Atlanta community will celebrate Human Rights Week March 30-April 3. Organized by the student group Human Rights Action, the week’s theme is entitled "Fulfilling the Full Spectrum of Human Rights: Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights Today,” which seeks to address rights beyond the traditional U.S. conception of political and civil rights. The dates of the week have been selected to commemorate Cesar Chavez Day as well as the 41st anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Human Rights Week 2009 will feature films and panel discussions on various issues, including: women’s rights and sexual violence, the right to health, children’s rights, and labor rights during the economic recession.

The week will conclude with the Human Rights Festival at Asbury Circle from 12pm-2pm on Friday, April 3rd. which will feature a global market with fair-trade crafts, world music and other cultural performances, and a human rights organizational fair featuring Atlanta area organizations working on local and international human rights issues.

All events are free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.emoryhumanrights.org or call 404-727-4609.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Himals in Holland


The Sixth Himalayan Film Festival at the Free University (VU) of Amsterdam on 14-15 February screened 50 films about the Himalaya to 2,200 visitors. The films went on non-stop from 9.30 AM to nearly midnight through the weekend with discussions and even a Himalayan arts and crafts fair.

Glenn Krishna Mitrasing, medical doctor by day and festival organiser by night, says audience numbers continue to rise every year with better advertising and publicity. "The festival has now become an established yearly cultural event known across the Netherlands," he says.

Nepal and Nepali films were particularly well represented this year. From feature presentations such as Kagbeni (Dahal) to contemporary politics addressed by Sari Soldiers (Bridgham), Returned: Child Soldiers of Nepal's Maoist Army (Koenig) and Living Goddess (Whitaker); documentaries and social commentaries such as Malaamee (Thapa), Chhau (Khadka), Children of God (Yi Seung-jun) and Yuddha Chitra (BK and Tseten); through to travelogues, mountains and music such as Return to Nepal (Lang), Daughters of Everest (Sakya and Limbu) and Musicians Call (Bajracharya), the range of genres and locations were impressively diverse.

Neasa Ni Chianain's Fairytale of Kathmandu is a nuanced and penetrating film about honesty and the abuse of power, raising uncomfortable questions which provoked much discussion. The five-episode series for BBC Four entitled A Year in Tibet was another festival highlight, since writer and producer Peter Firstbrook was present to introduce his films and answer questions. Lectures by Pema Wangchuk Dorjee, editor of Sikkim's leading English-language daily Now!, and John Sanday, conservation architect, on their recent research and ongoing work were also well attended and lively.

It's no small achievement that in the few years since 2003, when Mitrasing launched the first Himalayan film festival, the event has done so well. Hundreds of Dutch film goers pay ?10 a session to watch films about the Himalaya, and the festival has already been to Tokyo and may travel to other European countries in the future. Taking the festival on tour would be an excellent next move, as it would ensure further exposure for the film makers and their creations. The large communities of Himalayan heritage residents in the UK and Germany make these countries in particular natural settings for future screenings.

The appetite for Nepal-related events seems to be insatiable in the Netherlands: Nepal Samaj Nederland (NSN), an association established by Nepalis in Holland, organised a one day Nepali film show and public discussion about immigration in Amsterdam a few days after the festival on 21 February.

Mark Turin in Amsterdam

www.himalayafilmfestival.nl/eng/
www.nepalsamaj.nl/

Source: Nepali Times