National 6 (Spotlight Weekly)

Conquering Silver Screen

A Nepali lady filmmaker debuts in the United States with a movie about Sherpa women

By MEG DIXIT, San Francisco, US

Nepali filmmaker, Sapana Sakya, 32, celebrated her world premiere screening of “Daughters of Everest” at the 22nd Annual San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival on March 9. The film is set to screen at the Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival December 2004.

A full house watched the 56-minute Nepali language (with English subtitles) movie about five Sherpa women who embark on a historic expedition to climb Mt. Everest, “Chomolongma” or “Mother Goddess of the Universe”.

“I hope that this film will help the women of Nepal to have an optimistic and positive outlook for their futures. I hope they will learn that they have choices throughout their lives,” says Sakya about the film, which features women who were deprived of an education to meet basic needs for their families.

Co-producer, Ramyata Limbu, absent during the Festival because of other projects in Kathmandu, met Sakya in a journalism convention a few years ago. They decided to work on a project about Nepali women. When this expedition was announced, Limbu contacted Sakya and the two filmed the ascent from January to May 2003.

“I am not an athletic person so the hardest thing was to climb ahead of the ladies to film them,” chuckles Sakya, a former reporter for both the Bangkok and Kathmandu Posts.

Sakya says making the film included detailed interviews with the five Sherpa women, critical reviews of transcripts and a lengthily editing scheme.

The $150,000 budget film was sponsored by American non-profit organizations such as the Pacific Pioneer Fund and National Asian American Telecommunications Association (NAATA), as well as with funds raised by the producers. Nepali organizations like EcoHimal helped with overcoats and boots for the trek.

The pubic response to “Daughters of Everest” in Nepal remains to be seen when the film debuts there in December. As Nepali movie theaters continue to shut down while the local film industry ails due to political instability, as well as the popularity of Bollywood films over locally produced ones, this film may entice an audience because of its freshness and subject matter.

Sakya was born in Patan and left for Bangkok at age 5. She obtained her Bachelor’s Degree from Purdue University in Indiana in 1989 and her Master’s in Journalism from UC Berkeley in 1996. She lives in Berkeley, California, with her husband and daughter. Though not a fan of popular “Kollywood” films, Sakya is excited about independent projects such as “Numa Fung”, a film about a young Limbu girl produced by another Nepali.

“Because I’ve been so fortunate in my life, I aspire to help Nepal in some way with my work,” she says as she plans her next endeavor.

Book Assistance

The Embassy of Japan has decided to extend a grant of US$ 7174 to Pokhara Japanese Language and Culture Center (PJLCC) for the implementation of the Project for Books Donation in Japan’s fiscal year 2003 under the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Projects (GGP) scheme of the Japanese government.

According to a press release from the embassy, under the project, a total of 1,206 sets of Japanese books will be provided to PJLCC. The books have been donated by the Rotary Club of Shiba, Tokyo, Japan. The Government of Japan will bear the transportation cost for bringing the books from Japan to Nepal via air.

The Center, established in 1998 in Pokhara with the financial support of Japanese citizens, has been engaged in the teaching and learning of Japanese language and culture to the residents of Pokhara. Since its establishment, a total of 545 students have been registered and 61 students graduated. It is to be noted that the graduation course of the center is equivalent to level 3 of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT).

The embassy release further states that it expects that the project will contribute in enhancing the teaching, learning and understanding of the Japanese language and culture in the conducive study environment at the center.