kimff an "off-beat gem’; a colourful calendar of specialised screen festivals, short on glamour but with atmosphere to spare.” Time Magazine 2009

Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival – kimff

kimff Prize Winners Trophies 2015

By the early 21^st century Nepal was facing the dawn of a new era, the King had been deposed and various political parties had taken over as the constitutional assembly with an elected President as the head of state. In general terms the country was finding its new feet. Nepal is a particularly resilient nation, with suspect leadership and a lack of strong positive governance the people have little to rely on, or trust in, except their own fortitude and self-reliance.  Despite the many knock-backs the country maintained much of its social fabric with many organisations and events carrying on amidst the political turmoil.  

The original concept of kimff was laid down in 2000 as a non-competitive biennial festival and in the light of a new open democracy, as a platform for broadening awareness and educating a Nepali audience to the different cultures and attitudes in an international arena. The Festival was to be held to coincide with the International Mountain Day, 11^th December and was based in the Russian Cultural Centre as a five day event.

Since its inception, kimff has been organized by the Himal Association, a non-profit organization based in Kathmandu by the Organizing Committee (KOC) that consists of volunteers who have consistently and tirelessly contributed their time for the successful operation of the festival through their hard work, application and participation. 

Professor Terry Gifford conducting

a 'Writing Workshop kimff 2010

The popularity of this unique Festival grew and by 2007 kimff had become an annual event with a competitive section and a new Nepal Panorama section, designed to encourage and promote emerging Nepali film makers and to provide them with a platform to promote their work. The festival had by this time out grown the Russian Cultural Centre and also its initial five-day program. A new venue was found in the Rastriya Sabha Griha, the City Hall, Pradarshani Marg, Kathmandu. 

The Festival went from strength to strength over coming many obstacles, primarily in terms of financial support with the audience rating increasing on an annual basis. In 2008, kimff became a member of the International Alliance for Mountain Film (IAMF), an institution developed to promote, enhance and conserve mountain cinematography through communal projects that would flank, or be incorporated into the regular institutional activities of the member bodies. Today the IAMF has 22 Members: 21 festivals of mountain film and a museum, which represent 17 countries across Europe, Asia, and North and South America. Along its shared path the IAMF, which includes the most prestigious operators in the sector among its Members, has successfully made a name for itself and has become the main reference point for those who produce, make, promote and conserve mountain film.

Opening Dinner for guest and foreign delegates 2012

TIME Magazine (2009) named the kimff in its list of "off-beat gems’ – a colourful calendar of specialised screen festivals, [it might be] short on glamour but has atmosphere to spare.”

Today, Kimff is established on the international film festival circuit’s “must visit” list. As the only Festival of its type in Asia it provides a platform to document, highlight and share human experiences and different cultures from around the world. The festival showcases a spectrum of documentaries, adventure cinema, experimental shorts, anthropological narratives, animation and feature films from the international scene and specifically in the Nepal Panorama section, from the heart of the Himalaya. It has developed into a vibrant and world-renowned event, its size and content has evolved to include topics such as human rights, poverty, conflict, climate change and environmental issues. Kimff’s outreach, workshops and discussions groups, associated with the film programme have matured to better serve the audience, an already knowledgeable and discerning community.

Expanding audiences today raise questions and keenly discuss issues presented at screenings; they engage in challenging dialogues with filmmakers and presenters. Local filmmakers have matured in terms of their technical ability and presentations, nurtured and encouraged by their exposure to international filmmakers and global issues through kimff, many have gone on themselves to gain global recognition. Audience numbers have continued to increase dramatically from 4,000 in 2000. Once kimff has closed its doors in Kathmandu, the story continues to unfold with Travelling kimff.

Travelling kimff generates much excitement as a result of taking a selection of films to urban and rural areas across Nepal. This element of kimff has now visited 47 of Nepal’s 75 districts, providing audiences with an opportunity to be included in the spirit of kimff through the screening of stories and films from around the globe that resonate with local communities. Travelling kimff highlights positive social change and cultivates an appreciation for the audio-visual medium especially among students, youth and women’s groups as an all-inclusive activity.

With the expanding program of films, especially in the Nepal Panorama section, Travelling International kimff seeks out venues in places of not only a sizable Nepali population but also with likeminded Festivals where Nepali films are shown around the world. In 2014 kimff went to Hong Kong and Macau for the first time and was also involved as the curator for the Toronto Nepali Film Festival (TNFF) and in New York. The success of kimff in these locations highlights kimff’s ability to interact with Nepali citizens living abroad, often as migrant workers and to promote Nepal through the visual arts as a film, adventure and holiday destination.

Kimff is, as a result of not only delivering Travelling kimff as a standalone festival but in providing the ‘Best of kimff’ films to other Mountain Film Festivals contributing to developing Nepal’s GDP through tourism and foreign exposure to the ‘real’ Nepal, especially at this time when Nepal is trying hard to establish a Road to Recovery post earthquake. Kimff is indeed acting in an Ambassadorial role for Nepal.

At Traveling kimff audiences seek out the best viewing vantage pointAdd caption

Kimff continues to create a bridge between cultures and societies by providing a powerful agent for positive social change and developing awareness. To this end the Festival is seen as a vehicle for instigating change through exposure to educational, humanitarian and cultural experience through audio-visual presentations thus creating a more vibrant Nepali filmmaking community. Kimff provides a market for both Nepali and foreign independent cinema film makers and a platform on which they can interact.

The festive or “mela” atmosphere at kimff starts long before you even enter the screening halls and continues long after those halls close their doors. Kimff occupies the foyer and outdoor spaces with various displays and stalls selling books, documentaries, films, memorabilia and food providing congenial meeting areas. Alongside the stalls, kimff curates photo exhibitions, art installations and arranges symposiums with interactive panels all of which contribute to the atmosphere of the ‘Festival’ and creates a vibrant and stimulating space where filmmakers and audiences can interact.

Kimff, as the only mountain film festival in Asia provides a critical opportunity that focuses on highlighting mountains and mountain people, gathering national and international filmmakers together under one roof and actively encouraging young Nepali filmmakers to pursue their aspirations. Nepali audiences are exposed through kimff to the differences and similarities between the Himalaya and other mountain regions encouraging and highlighting positive social change. Within the tourism field kimff plays a major role in establishing Kathmandu as the cultural capital of the Himalaya Region claiming a spot on the film festival map.

 This is not only justified but proven by immense growth in terms of audience response and in the significance increase in the number of film entries received over the last four years when kimff received over 300 film entries from 50 - 60 countries annually. The annual audience survey revealed that audiences have a growing interest in documentary film and an interest in culture and lifestyles from around the world.

Film Maker David Breashers and kimff Chairman 2013

The surveys have also helped us realize that young people especially are becoming increasingly interested in filmmaking, documentaries, and global issue. Kimff has proven there is a great interest among filmmakers for such a festival and it has demonstrated its growing relevance as a platform to highlight the plight of mountains, mountain people and related topics. For Nepali filmmakers, kimff will continue to provide exposure and a venue for networking and nurturing a community of film makers who are now producing skilfully told stories about Nepalese communities and relevant issues and gaining international exposure. In 2014, International Alliance of Mountain Film Festivals (IAMF), held their General Assembly in Kathmandu during the Festival and consequently kimff had an opportunity to showcase both the festival and Nepal to representatives from member festivals from around the world this also provided sponsors with the opportunity to interact with major players in the field of promoting mountains and indigenous cultures and local festivals. Kimff shares the same basic objectives as IAMF, namely, ‘to promote, enhance and conserve mountain cinematography through communal projects incorporated into activities of member bodies’.In the immediate future kimff is considering ways to get the Festival on a more substantial footing through working closely with a developing band of supporters and sponsors, not only for the benefit of the Festival audiences but also for Nepal and its ability to develop its potential within the tourism sector.

Maryam Cheema, Parkistan International Mountain
 Film Festival Director and Ramyata Limbu kimff 
Director 2015

 Over the years kimff has had the support of filmmakers, artists and prominent personalities from both Nepal and abroad. In addition, kimff has been inaugurated in the past by such eminent people as the late Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala (who inaugurated the very first kimff in 2000); the late Swiss geologist Professor Toni Hagen; climber Da Gombu Sherpa from India, and the late geographer Dr. Harka Gurung. In the competition section the kimff jury has included prominent and accomplished personalities in the fields of film, journalism, mountaineering and academia, including Harish Kapadia, climber and writer from India; Professor Kurt Luger from Austria; British climber Doug Scott and Pakistani climber Nazir Sabir. Each year kimff hosts at least four international representatives as jury members. Kimff has had a long history of partnering with a wide range of international and national non-government agencies and state entities from the Diplomatic sector, Environmental Agencies and commercial sector.

The 13^th edition Kimff, 2015, closed its doors with the final screening Tiger for Breakfast, the Russian film portraying the life of Boris Lissanevitch. Despite the hardship facing Nepal over the last 12 months the Kimff Organising Committee felt that the Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival is an important event in the social calendar and therefore believed that it was crucial to maintain a focus for film buffs on the developing genre of independent film trends. 

Basanta Thapa warming the audience up before the 'Mountain Quiz’ 2015

 The opening film Bhagyale Bachekaharu (Nepal Earthquake; Heroes, Survivors) was followed by the screening of more than 80 films from 25 countries between the 10^th to 14^th December. The spectrum of films included documentaries, fiction, adventure cinema, experimental shorts, anthropological narratives and animation from the international scene and specifically in the Nepal Panorama section, from the heart of the Himalaya. In the presence of filmmakers, film enthusiasts, critics, scholars, journalists, artists and mountaineers, the festival included discussion forums, guest lectures, and exhibitions of books, photos and installation art projects.

The kimff 2015 jury members were British climber and journalist Ed Douglas, Korean Professor of Media Studies Young Kim, award winning Indian film editor Namrata Rao and senior film critic Premendra Nath Mazumdar. Their job was to judge the best top three films in the international competition and the top documentary film and fiction film in the Nepal Panorama selection. There was also the Audience Choice Award.

The top three prizes US$ 1500, US$ 1000, US$ 500 for the international competitions were sponsored by the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA), Trekking Agents Association of Nepal (TAAN) and Thamserku Trekking respectively while Nepal Film Development Board and Jane Goodall Foundation respectively sponsored cash prizes of Rs. 50,000/- NRs each for best fiction film and documentary in Nepal Panorama. The ICIMOD sponsored prize of US 1000 was awarded to the best film focusing on mountain development issues.

Traveling kimff audience gathers in Penuti 2013

This year’s events also include the popular quiz ‘Know Your Himal’ hosted by Nepali Times Editor Kunda Dixit, a photo exhibition by Indian mountaineer and photographer Abhijeet Singh, a panel discussion on ‘Trends in South Asian Independent Cinema’ with panellists Min Bham, Namrata Rao, Premendra Nath Mazumdar, Tsering Rhitar Sherpa all moderated by Anup Subedi. The film Sherpa was also followed by a discussion with panel members including the Director General from the Tourism Ministry, Ed Douglas, UK climber and journalist, Ang Tsherring Sherpa, President of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, and Lakpa Sherpa representing the Guides Association the moderator was Dipek Thapa.

Two films were particularly popular with the audience and consequently kimff provided a second screening of Castaway Man, the story of Prof. Dor Bahdur Bista, Nepal ‘Father of Anthropology and ‘Sherpa’ the story of the avalanche on Everest in 2014. The WWF film The Ghost of the Mountains which explored the snow leopard tagging project in the Kanchenjunga region was also a popular attraction.

This was possible the best ever edition of kimff with many films having capacity audience attendance. The winning films for 2015 were in the International Competition, first place went to Tashi and the Monk, a portrait of a monk and his relationship with his young charges, second place to Jurek, Jerzy Kukuczka the mountaineer, the man behind the myth and third place to Shepherd’s Song, a family suffering from a genetic sight disorder has to make a life changing discussion.  Passion for Life the story of two climbers retracing the routes pioneered by Stanislawski in the Polish Tatra Mountains got a special mention from the judges. The Nepal Panorama prize went to Kamaro, the story of a family of bonded labourers from the Sinja Valley with Heaven is Black getting a special mention from the judges. The ICIMOD Award went to Serdhak, the trials and tribulations of a family living in Mustang. However, Bhagyale Bachekaharu (Nepal Earthquake; Heroes, Survivors) won both the Audience and overall Winners Award.