KIMFF 2011

FROM ISSUE # 193 (January 2012) | IN THIS ISSUE
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The 9th edition of Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival (KIMFF) was organized by Himal Association from 8 – 12 December 2011 at Rastriya Sabha Griha(City Hall) and Nepal Tourism Board Auditorium in Kathmandu.  Altogether fifty two films were screened during the four day long annual film festival comprising of documentaries, fiction, animation, shorts. The 52 participating films, both in competition and non-competition category, covered wide range of subjects that included mountain climbing, migration, sports, environment, globalization, culture and other social issues, from 22 countries seeking to celebrate the complexity and diversity of the mountains and issues related to it.

Amongst the 17 films that were vying for the top three prizes of International Competition, 'Summer Pasture' by Lynn True and Nelson Walker won the first prize of USD 1500 while John Innerdale's 'Family Instincts' and 'Beyond the Summit' by Remy Tezier took home second and third  prize of USD 1000 and USD 500 respectively. 21 films were screened under the International Non Competitive category and 6 films by Nepali filmmakers were screened under Nepal Panorama section. 'The Desert Eats Us' by Kesang Tseten was declared the best film of Nepal Panorama and Dipendra Bhandari's 'Journey to Yarsa' was presented with the Audience Choice Awards.

Tonestage
Tonesstage was organised on 3rd December at Silence Street, Tangal. The gig was different from other regular metal gigs because of the variation of the bands performing rather than just regular metal bands. Bands like Horny Monks, Underside, Albatross, Space Cake Break, Newaz and White highlighted the show. Newaz is a decade old band that has reunited again to create pure rock music and was one of the best performances of the evening. Space Cake Break with its new age experimental music, was something totally different from the others. Backed up by DJ Salim, the band is all set to release an album very soon. Underside never disappoints and this time was no different. The band White with its heavy progressive metal songs like 'Kamasutra' among others is heavily influenced with sex-fueled lyrics; something new and amusing from a side project of Anil Dhital. Tone store gave out free t-shirts, album CDs and two lucky people from the audience won themselves Laney Amps.

8th KCM-ICMC
The Kathmandu College of Management Student Council organised the 8th KCM-Inter College Music Competition for the in November. Two preliminary rounds were held on November 17th and 18th 13 were shortlisted from the initial 32 participating bands, for the final event held on November 26th. Judging the event were Hari Maharjan, Riju Tuladhar and Dev Rana, each a music legend in their own right. 1st Prize (Rs 50,000) was awarded to Malpi, 2nd Prize (Rs 20,000) to Apex and 3rd Prize (Rs 10,000) to St. Xavier's B. The crowd's favorite Shuvatara A also received a consolation prize of Rs 5,000. Shannon Scam headlined the first preliminary round and White on the second day. The finals on 26th was a spectacular showcase of emerging college talents and celebration of what the competition has always been for the past eight years. Scribe, a post Hardcore band from India, which had been nominated for the MTV EMA awards was the main highlight of the event along with other local acts.

World Record Set

It took only 18 people to set the world record for Most People Reciting the World AIDS Day Theme. This world record which has been approved my recordsetter.com and 'World Record Appreciation Society' and was organised by Nikesh Thapaliya along with the support of 'Yes! Club World - Nepal'.

For Nikesh Thapaliya this is only one in a collection of the world records that he holds – in memorizing capitals of 215 countries, reciting/writing US states and reciting US states with respective capitals the fastest.

Albatross Unplugged
On December 10, We Fear Silence Events organised a laid back acoustic night with Albatross. From songs dating way back to their first album to the latest numbers, they performed only what was the crowd could sing along to. In the jam-room styled setting with the members sitting on bar stools, muted sound system and dimmed lights, everyone had their ears tuned to Shirish's words. With regular shows in Kathmandu and tours, they have plans for more next year. After the unplugged evening, WFS Events has plans for various events on New Year's Eve. 

Street Art Project Continues
A Street Art Project on the social issue of 'Uterine Prolapse' was organized by Artudio and The Image Park in collaboration with WRRP-CAED to raise public awareness about Uterine Prolapse. The street art project was performed on the wall of Nepal Food Corporation, Thapathali on the 9th of December 2011.
More than a dozen young Nepali Artists and other women from different parts of Nepal came together not only to paint the visual message on the wall about 'uterine prolapse' or falling of the womb that occurs due to weakened pelvic muscles that support the positioning of the uterus, but also to discuss various causes and effects of such a condition and precautions to be taken.

The National Designer's Cut 2011
What I thought was going to be an extravagant show of designs, celebrities and the whoswho of Kathmandu gracing the red carpet on November 25th, turned out be a huge disappointment at the Designer's Cut. The designs were just simply boring. On many occasions, it felt that the clothes were bought elsewhere and put together to make it 'seem' like the designer had a fashion line. Most of the dresses were made out of dhaka and organic Nepali fabrics. And then were the stiff models that did not how to walk the ramp. To sum it all up, it was a fashion show by amateur designers with amateur models for a crowd that seemed least interested by what was happening on stage. Also entertaining the audience were Hemant Rana, Nabin K Bhattarai, Astha B, singing on pre-recorded tracks.

GHUNGRIEKO KAPAL
Mandala Theatre Nepal started its Family Theatre Tour on the 15th of December, with a team of 12 members and will be travelling to various places around Nepal.

Family Theatre aims to make theatre that respects children, their understanding and intelligence. At the same time it aims to create theatre that fascinates the older generations.

Ghungrieko Kapal (Curly Hair) is inspired by Hetchhakuppa that has a strong cultural significance for the Kirat community. It is a story of the struggle and victory of a closely-knit family and represents life in general.

JHAMSIKHEL STREET FESTIVAL
A day long Jhamsikhel Street festival was organized at Jhamsikhel on 10th December to promote Jhamiskhel as the new socializing hub of the town. The event was organized by Jhamsikhel Youth Club for the second time in a row, keeping in mind the promotion of Nepal Tourism Year (NTY) 2011.
The event which covered around 800 meters from The British School to Hardik Club, featured live concert, street- side food stalls, bike stunts, B-Boying dance and other games.

SOFTWARICA STUDENTS WIN ACCOLADES
Students of Softwarica College of IT and E-Commerce, received awards from NCC Education, an awarding body of UK in recognition of their outstanding academic achievements.

Mr. Keshav Khadka, has been awarded a 'Global High Achiever'.  This prestigious award is given to a student who has the highest mark for a programme throughout the world. 

Similarly, Mr. Roshan Chaudhary, has been awarded a Regional High Achiever'. This award is given to a student who has the highest mark for a programme within a region. IDCS is equivalent to first year of UK University education at the Bachelors level.

This achievement reflects the fact that Nepalese students can also excel in global arena. This proves that national colleges affiliated to international awarding bodies are capable in delivering quality education at par with foreign educational institutions.

BLOOD DONATION AT IST
Keeping in mind the high demand of blood at different hospitals in the country, International School of Tourism and Hotel Management (IST) joined hands with Nepal Red Cross Society and Helping Hands- a group formed by the students of the same college to organize 'Donate Blood Save Life'–a blood donation program. Over 250 faculty members and students donated blood in support of the drive which was held at the premise of IST on December 16, 2011.

This is the second time that IST has organized such an event. The organizers hope that events of this type will help to create awareness about the importance of blood donation especially among the youngsters.

OLEANNA IN NEPAL 
The Nepali premiere of Oleanna, by the celebrated American stage and film writer David Mamet was staged in Kathmandu in December. Oleanna became an iconic treatment of the issue of sexual harassment and political correctness that gripped public attention in the United States of the 1990s and remains highly relevant today. The play tells the story of John, a college professor, and Carol, a student failing his course, and the unforeseen consequences of their private meetings in his office. Language and action become powerful and revealing weapons, and the audience found itself divided over the question of just who is the target: John or Carol?

Director Deborah Merola harnessed the exceptional talent of established stage and film actors- Anup Baral, playing John, and Shanti Giri, Namrata Shrestha, and Diya Maskey, playing Carol in an experimental split of the role, bringing to life the bristling intelligence and energy of the drama.

'JUNK'ED
The second year students from KU Center for Art & Design came up with their collective exhibition titled 'JUNKED' at NAFA Gallery, Naxal from 6th to 13th December.

As the title of the exhibition suggests, 'JUNKED' was a unique art project that the KU students undertook, under the guidance of artists Kalapremi Shrestha and BhuwanThapa, to build different modern sculptures and art pieces out of junk and waste materials. The exhibition featured about eight sculptures done individually and collaboratively.

More than half of the exhibited sculptures were related to movies/films in one way or the other because they were originally built to be displayed during Nepal Cine Symposium, held from November 19 to 22, at Gurukul and that is why most of the junk materials used in them were also wastage from film productions.

A couple of items that outshone the rest in terms of drawing visitor's attention were 'The Light' and 'The Bicycle Princess and Her Handsome Savior Prince Camera' and 'Epoch Celluloid'.