International Oscar Race: Nepal Selects ‘Shambhala’

Nepal has selected “Shambhala” as its Oscar entry in the international feature film category.

Directed by Min Bahadur Bham, “Shambhala” – a mystic, sacred realm in Tibetan Buddhism, also an area of significance in Hinduism, which means a place of peace – begins in a Himalayan polyandrous village in Nepal, where pregnant Pema faces scrutiny as her first husband Tashi vanishes on a trade trip to Lhasa. Accompanied by her de facto husband, the monk Karma, she embarks on a journey to find him, evolving her quest into self-discovery and liberation.

The film debuted at the Berlinale and has since played at Sydney, Karlovy Vary and Locarno. It is a Shooney Films (Nepal) production in co-production with CDP (France), Ape&Bjørn (Norway), Aaru Production (Hong Kong), ZK Films (Turkey), Yi Tiao Long Hu Bao (Taiwan) Bangdel and Shakya Production (U.S.).

Bham’s 2012 short “Bhansulli” debuted at Venice. His debut feature “Kalo Pothi” (aka “The Black Hen,” 2015) won the Fedeora best film award at Venice Critics’ Week and became Nepal’s official Oscar entry. The film, produced by Bham, reunites him with his “Kalo Pothi” producer Catherine Dussart, who serves as co-producer alongside Verona Meier, Shuk Fong Chong, Zeynep Koray, Justine O. Bibhakar and Sunder Shakya, with Debaki Rai, Liao Ching-Sung, Roger Huang, Ruben Thorkildsen, Can Aygor and Salina Shakya as executive producers and Rajesh Prasad Khatri, Jeremy Chua and Lee Chi Lin as associate producers.

Kenya: ‘Nawi’

Kenya has selected “Nawi,” which explores the issue of child marriage in rural Africa, as its Oscar entry in the international feature film category.

The film centers on Nawi, whose aspirations of attending high school are shattered when she learns that her father Eree plans to marry her off to a stranger. Despite her family’s need for the bride-price – livestock – Nawi refuses to accept her fate. Her ally in this…