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Venice International Film Festival

Oscar 2017 Predictions: Venice Film Festival winner ‘The Black Hen’ Will represent Nepal At the 2017 Oscars

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Posted by Larry Gleeson

By Francisco Salazar

The Black Hen has been selected to represent Nepal at the 2017 Academy Awards. The film, which won the Best Film in the Venice Film Festival’s Critics week, was directed by first time filmmakers Min Bahadur Bham. The movie also played at the Singapore and Taipei Film festivals where it also received acclaimed.

The film takes place in 2001 when a ceasefire brought a break to the small war-torn village in Northern Nepal and tells the story of two young friends who start raising a hen given to Prakash by his sister, with hopes to save money by selling her eggs. However, the hen goes missing. The film has obtained rave reviews and could surprise if the Academy is interested in taking challenges and being unpredictable.

Though Nepal’s history with the Academy is short, the country was nominated in 1999 for its first submissions Caravan. However, since then the country has not been able to pick up another nomination. Last year Nepal submitted Talakjung vs. Tulke,  a film that never caught on with the Academy or with audiences worldwide.

This year represents an unusually strong year for the Foreign Language category. Among the frontrunners to be nominated are Toni Erdmann, Julieta, House of Others, Sieranevada, The Ardennes, Chevalier, and Mother.   Other films that will also be strong competitors include El Classico, From Afar, and Neruda.

The Academy is known for choosing some of the most critically acclaimed films out of the festival circuit and usually nominate films from Venice, Cannes, Toronto, Sundance, Berlin, Tribeca and Locarno Film Festivals. Last year Hungary took home the Oscar for the Cannes favorite Son of Saul while in 2014 the Toronto Film Festival and box office hit Ida  won.

The Foreign Language Film deadline to submit is Oct. 3. On Jan. 17 the Academy will announce the nine finalists from among the eligible films and on Jan. 24 nominations will be announced. The winner will be announced at the Oscar ceremony on Feb. 26.

(Source: http://www.latinpost.com)

Venice International Film Festival

Two Nepali films make it to Venice Film Festival

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KATHMANDU:

 

Two Nepali films have been selected for the 73rd Venice International Film Festival. Deepak Rauniyar’s feature length film ‘White Sun’ and ‘Dadyaa’, a short film directed by Pooja Gurung and Bibhusan Basnet, will represent Nepal in Venice this year. The Venice Film Festival is one of the oldest and major international film festivals of the world.

 

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This is the second consecutive year that Nepali films are represented at the festival. Min Bahadur Bham’s ‘Kalo Pothi’ had its world premiere there last year.

Both Nepali films will compete in the ‘Orizzonti’ (Horizons) section, which falls under the festival’s “official selection” line-up. Bham’s ‘Kalo Pothi’ was screened under the ‘International Critics’ Week’, an autonomous section separately organized by Italy’s critics’ association.

Set during the Maoist Insurgency, the 87 minute long ‘White Sun’ tells the story of two brothers with conflicting ideologies. The protagonist Chandra returns home after a decade, for his father’s final rites. The course of his journey is complicated by the harsh reality of his village.

The film stars Dayahang Rai, Asha Magrati, Rabindra Singh Baniya, Sumi Malla and Amrit Pariyar. “Getting selected for Venice will bring Nepali movies one step forward in the international arena,” Rauniyar said. “I believe this will not only promote Nepali films but Nepal as well.”

A conversation between a former guerilla and a soldier that Rauniyar witnessed eight years ago was the genesis of the movie. “I made this film to portray Nepal after the civil war and the discourse that has since followed,” he added.

‘White Sun’ has been backed by producers from USA, Netherlands and Qatar. Rauniyar’s debut feature film ‘Highway’ was screened at the 62nd Berlin Film Festival in 2012.

Bibushan and Pooja’s second short film ‘Dadyaa’ is shot in Sinja valley, Jumla. Their first short film ‘The Contagious Apparition of Dambarey Dendrite’ had a successful run in international film festivals.

‘Dadyaa’ depicts the struggles of an old couple spending an isolated life in remote Jumla. It has a runtime of 17 minutes. “Our selection in Venice shows that international audience is starting to show interest in Nepal,” said Pooja.

The eleven day long festival will start from August 31. The organizer said that the ‘Orizzonti’ section will celebrate the latest aesthetic and expressive trend in international cinema. It is a competitive section.

(Source: http://www.myrepublic.com/news)