I had the pleasure of curating and hosting the Five Films for Freedom at the British Council in Kathmandu last week. The screening event showcased three short-films from the five, selected by yours truly followed by one additional Nepali short-film outside of the Five Films. All the featured films showcased LGBTQIA+ stories. The three films I picked for the Kathmandu screening were Dragfox, We’ll Go Down In History and NGGAKK!!! – in that very particular order.
What is Five Films for Freedom?
Five Films For Freedom is an online celebration of global LGBTQIA+ stories, in support of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual rights, in partnership with BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival.
Five Films For Freedom champions the power of storytelling to spark understanding and change. The programme showcases diverse voices and perspectives that remind us that, no matter where or who we are, the need for love and self-expression is universal.
Dragfox was my instant favourite as soon as I watched it and I knew I wanted it to be the first film to kickstart the event. I must add that all the films received wonderful reaction and of course, so did our speaker Shuby Bhattarai and poet Sammyy. Sammyy’ opened the event with a poem that brought the audience into their world as a non-binary person.
Following the three films from Five Films for Freedom, I spoke to Shuby about their thoughts after watching this years programme as well as writing, representation and creating space that is accessible. Shuby Bhattarai is a queer performance artist as well as the founder of Queer HonkyTonk, which organizes queer events in Kathmandu.
The event was attended by hundred+ people ranging from Nepali cinema artists, writers, educators, musicians, diplomats, queer activists and cinephiles. I was very pleased with the turnout – especially as we were able to attract a good mix.
The final film for the event was ARKESTA by Safal Pandey. This short-film revolves around a father and a son who’s interest and expression challenges tradition notions of masculinity. This was a simple story with plenty of moments where I could resonate with the son in the short-film. While we did not have Safal at the screening, we heard from Sammyy and Shuby and then moved onto questions and answers.
A huge thank you to the British Council Arts team for supporting me with the curation, on-the-day support and execution as well as putting this event on. For the two+ hours, it felt incredible to be somewhere where we could talk about queer cinema and art. This role I took on as a curator highlighted to me – the huge gap – we have when it comes to (good) queer cinema and queer stories. We need to write more, publish more, upload more films, create them! I have come out of this experience with my own action to tick off.
If you have read this far then thank you! If you have films with queer stories/characters made by Nepali filmmakers that you recommend, please do share via comments.
PS. While the 2025 selection of Five Films for Freedom are no longer available to watch, you will be able to find the programmes from previous years online and on the link!
Photos by Nhooja Tuladhar
