The feature film—‘The Rebirth: Life After the Last Breath’—relates a story that touches societies all around the world. Though the movie is based on a few heart-wrenching incidents that had taken place in Nepal, the essence of the story is such that it breaks borders and shakes sentiments of all human beings irrespective of their colors, creeds and countries. So, the story plunges deep into our mind and brings the masses together for a great common cause, i.e., the cause of humanity...

The ‘Battle between Bhaktapur and the Gurkhas: A True Story of Broken Bonds and Betrayals’ is a story that relates aquick sequence of hair-raising incidents that had taken place before and after the three-day battle between Bhaktapur and the invading Gurkha army in 1769 AD. It also shows the rigorous life in and around Bhaktapur during the 13.5months-long blockade imposed on Bhaktapur before the three-day ‘epic battle’ and its aftermath...

Come October, and you’ll see a different Bhaktapur. It is the month, when Hindus celebrate the Vijaya Dashami, the victorious 10th day and the culmination of the fortnight-longMohani (Dashain) festival, and Buddhist commemorate it as the Arms Renunciation Day, the day when Mauryan Emperor Ashoka had given up arms and converted himself to be a Buddhist after seeing the nerve-wrenching bloodbath at the Kalinga Warnearly 2,300 years ago.Naturally, festive zeal and revelries are everywhere, but on this special day, you’ll find a considerable number of devotees at the Brahmayani shrine sitting either on chairs or lying on the ground, with their bodies partly or fully covered with oil-fed traditional lamps.Staying there so for hours with almost zero physical movements draws awe and inspiration, but the thing that motivates most is the message that the-once-in-a-year ritual oozes out: the light we kindle within us counts the most and it’s what makes us as well as the entire society happy, healthy and prosperous. The nearly 25-minute documentary, which we are going to make in both Nepali and English very soon, will revealall its socio-cultural dimensions, and we suggest you all to watch it to understand how an illuminating light, no matter how small it is, can chase away darkness and bring about light not only inour personal lives but also in the society as a whole.

The world is now home to eight billion people, and one of the most important factor that has kept us all alive is Water. The link between human life and the water is inalienable, and it’s the quest and quench for this life-giving liquid that has given birth to great civilizations in the human history. The bowl-shaped Kathmandu Valley—home to the internationally-acclaimed Newah Civilization—is an example that substantiate that very fact. So simply go around this marvelous Valley, and see for yourself the age-old system under which natural resources of water are properly maintained and the uninterrupted supply of water to its inhabitants is ensured. Though much of the time-honored ‘Water Heritage’ has succumbed to an uncontrolled population growth and unplanned urbanization here, the Valleystill gives ample opportunity to peep into its glorious past as well as to stand witness to the efforts currently being undertaken by some of the local governments and people in preserving what is left behind by the time. On our part, our endeavors to make an audio-visual document or a documentary titled, ‘Water Heritage of the Kathmandu Valley’ on this very topic aim to consolidate the preservation efforts by disseminating relevant information to the general public and building positive pressure on the decision-makers. Moreover, the one-hour long documentary in Nepali with English subtitles, as we have envisioned for long, will not only serve as an audio-visual archive of a glorious part of human history, but also become an authentic reference material for all those who aspire to plunge deep into the ‘water’ in the days ahead.

Massaginga new-born baby, which goes for the first few months after the birth,is an age-old traditionamong the Newar community in and around the Kathmandu Valley.Popularly known as ‘Machaa Chikan Bukegu’ (oiling infants),the oil massagingis performed every day by a well-experienced dhai(baby caretakers) using organic mustard oil. Though the lactating mother also gets the reinvigoratingoil massage every day, it’s naturally the baby that gets the utmost care to make his/her limbs strong and healthy in the upcoming days. Moreover, the mother is regularly served, twice or thrice a day, with specially made Posta, a combination of nutritious spices and herbs made with molasses, and Imu-ti, asalted soup of carom and fennel seeds with ghee as its topping. They not only help the mother regain her strength, but through her milk, give necessary nutrition to the baby.Like many other time-honored traditions, this generations-old tradition too is gradually succumbingto the so-called modernity, and the revival of this scientifically-proven is what the ‘Heritage Movies-Nepal’ aims to achieve through the documentary-in-the-making.

Apparently overwhelmed by the richness in heritage scattered all around the Kathmandu Valley, a foreign visitor in the distant past had said, “Every other building here is a temple and every other day a festival”.Yes, festivals have always been an inalienable part of the Nepalese way of life. People find inthem not only entertainment but also ways to ensure progress, prosperity and preservation for themselves. No matter how big or small they may be or where they are observed, all the festivals are deeply rooted in the socio-economic lives of the general public.Of course there are belief systems playing their roles giving shape and size to the festivals, they, in many ways, have been instrumental in keeping people secure, happy, healthy and prosperous. Besides, these are the factors that bring hands, heads and hearts closer, enhancing social harmony and mutual respect among the peoples that are known for the divergence in castes, colors and creeds. The documentary-in-the-making, ‘Festivals of Nepal: Four Reasons, Four Seasons’, endeavors to enhance those very socio-cultural bonds by making a bridge between the past and the present.