The popular festival of Southasian Documentaries Film Southasia hit the big screens of Kathmandu’s QFX Kumari Cinema in Kamal Pokhari on Thursday. The four day long film festival which is on its 9th edition suffered a setback after receiving pressure from the Sri Lankan government to stop the screening of all three documentaries from Sri Lanka selected for Film Southasia ’13. Chairman of Film Southasia Kanak Mani Dixit said “FSA protests this unwarranted intrusion into the cultural sphere, an action that goes against the freedom of expression and the right of documentary filmmakers to exhibit their work. This obstructs our festival’s goal of promoting regional understanding in Southasia. The Sri Lankan films ‘Broken’, ‘The Story of One’ and ‘No Fire Zone’ will be presented outside the festival at a ‘private screening’.
The festival will screen a total of 55 documentaries from different countries in South Asia including Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Myanmar. The Oscar winning Saving Face by Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy and Daniel Junge, Fire in the Blood (Official Selection for Sundance) and Algorithms (first feature length documentary on blind chess) will also be screened at the festival. You can view the full list and schedule of Film Southasia 2013 on the official site.
