In the heart of the Kathmandu Valley, a cultural event has been quietly reshaping South Asian documentary filmmaking for nearly three decades.

“We emerged from a collective of print journalists getting together to try and provide a platform for documentary filmmakers, all of whom were then absolutely new,” reflects Mitu Varma, who has steered the Film Southasia (FSA) festival as a director since 2014.

The festival founders recognized documentary filmmaking “as the pinnacle of audiovisual journalism” as Varma puts it, because the genre was independent, with “no big money involved”. But these documentary filmmakers across Southasia lacked access to major international festivals and platforms.

That is what “inspired our direction,” Verma tells Sapan News as the festival ended last weekend.

Pioneering film festival

Established in 1997, FSA was the first South Asian film festival in the world, set up with the goal of popularising documentaries that entertain, inform, and change lives. Since then, numerous South Asian film festivals have emerged in the region and beyond, with perhaps the most prominent being Tasveer in Seattle, launched in 2002.

Film Southasia is more than just a film festival. It brings together creative voices from across the region, establishing Kathmandu as a regional hub where South Asian storytellers connect across borders. It has become a special space where artists can share their stories and break down the barriers that often keep South Asian countries apart. Over the years, the festival has welcomed many iconic cultural figures, including poet-filmmaker Gulzar, actor Shabana Azmi, and directors Shyam Benegal and Goutam Ghose.

The festival started with135 entries in 1997. The number of submissions have steadily risen since, to a record 2,000 plus this year, out of which jurors selected 47 films from nine countries to screen. Indian filmmaker Kabir Khan, whose film ‘The Forgotten Army’ won an award at the second FSA 1999, was back, this time as the chief guest and keynote speaker.

As always, the jury included directors from different countries. The jurists this year included Farjad Nabi from Lahore, Anitha Pottumkulam from Chennai, and Kiran Krishna Shrestha from Kathmandu.

The Ram Bahadur Trophy for Best Film was awarded to India’s ‘6-A Akash Ganga’ by Nirmal Chander Dhandriyal. The documentary’s intimate portrayal of Hindustani classical musician Annapurna Devi exemplifies FSA’s commitment to stories that peel back layers of cultural history.

The award is named not after any film celebrity but a humble guard called Ram Bahadur Tamang. It is his photo wielding a Sony video camera, and wearing a Shirdi Sai Baba badge, symbolic of the spiritual connectedness across the region, that is the iconic logo of Film Southasia.

Other notable victories included the joint Jury Award shared between Nepal’s ‘Devi’ by Subina Shrestha and ‘Chardi Kala – An Ode to Resilience’ by Prateek Shekhar from India.

Fostering South Asian sensibility

Veteran filmmaker Anand Patwardhan received the Documentary Stalwart Award for his decades of social and humanistic storytelling. The Best Student Film Award went to ‘Hello Guyzz!!’ by Samiksha Mathur from India. The Tareque Masud Best Debut Film Award, honouring the late Bangladeshi filmmaker who died in a road crash in 2011 went to ‘Siege in the Air’ by Muntaha Amin from India..

Beyond film screenings, the festival offered a workshop by Bollywood director Kabir Khan to kick things off, setting an exciting tone. Kathaharu, an audio-visual production company, and the WOW Festival – Women of the World, a global movement on gender equity by the British Council – hosted special classes with Jane Mote from The Whickers, UK – an organisation funding original and innovative documentaries – and film editor Shweta Venkat from India, working together with Film Southasia.

There were also discussions on topics like ‘Enabling Humanities in Southasia’, moderated by Prof. Bishnu Mohapatra from Krea University, ‘Understanding the Anthropocene’, moderated by Kanak Mani Dixit (Chair, FSA), ‘The Evolution of the Nepali Documentary’, organized by the Central Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at Tribhuvan University, and ‘The Sudden Runaway Success of Nepali Cinema’, moderated by Nepali film director Deependra Gauchan.

What makes FSA extraordinary is its location. Nepal serves as a unique sanctuary where South Asian filmmakers can gather freely in the region, a rarity that Varma emphasises with particular pride.

This accessibility has fostered what Varma calls a “Southasian sensibility”, an organic understanding that emerges not from official declarations but from shared experiences and stories.

“It’s not that SAARC-induced thing that is official and imposed,” she observes, referring to the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, stalled by tensions between India and Pakistan particularly over the past decade.

Instead, the natural evolution of cultural exchange comes “very organically”, in stark contrast to the official attempts at regional cooperation that are imposed from the top and fizzle out when official relations break down.

The 2024 festival theme ‘Documentary in Anthropocene’ reflected an urgent reality that transcends national borders.

“This year’s theme Anthropocene is not just timely but essential,”  jury member Kiran Krishna Shrestha told Sapan News. “It is a stark reminder that what we share cannot be restrained by borders.”

“Everywhere you could see the impact of the climate crisis,” points out Varma, her words carrying the weight of regional environmental challenges.

From melting Himalayan glaciers to rising rivers and devastating floods, the theme spoke to a crisis that knows no boundaries. This environmental focus manifested in powerful works like ‘A Flaming Forest’, which won the Best Film on Depiction of the Climate Crisis, sponsored by ICIMOD, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development.

The film by Salman Javeed, Vivek Singh Sangwan, and Satya Ambasta explores the displacement of the Soliga adivasis from the Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Tiger Reserve due to exclusionary conservation practices.

Film South Asia has now partnered with Himal Southasian magazine to start Screen Southasia, monthly online screenings of compelling documentaries from across the region, a dynamic virtual space where South Asian filmmakers and audiences can connect across borders.

Catalyst for deeper collaboration

Looking ahead, Mitu Varma envisions FSA as a catalyst for deeper regional collaboration, particularly on pressing issues like climate change. “What we would like to see happening is that filmmakers from across borders get together and make sensitive documentaries,” regardless of the political divisions that have been imposed, she explains.

This vision extends beyond mere artistic collaboration to address fundamental challenges facing the region.

Varma’s advice to emerging filmmakers embodies FSA’s ethos: “Keep your cameras and antenna on and look at issues with no preconceived notions in your hand, because… you cannot script a documentary, you show what you see.” These words carry the weight of decades spent nurturing authentic voices in South Asian documentaries.

In a world increasingly divided by borders and politics, Film Southasia reminds us that stories, like the environmental challenges they often document, know no boundaries.

Through this lens, we glimpse a “Southasia” united not by treaties or trade agreements, but by the simple, powerful act of sharing stories, stories that entertain, inform, and ultimately, transform lives.

(The author is a Nepali film director, activist and critic who has studied and worked in India. His short film ‘TEATRO’, about a transgender woman will be screened at the Queer Film Festival, Patan Dhoka, Kathmandu. By special arrangement with Sapan)