Day/Time
Saturday, June 28th, 2:00 pm
Venue
Johnson Center Cinema Hall
George Mason University, Fairfax, VA
Direction:
http://www.gmu.edu/welcome/Directions-to-GMU.html
http://coyote.gmu.edu/map/maphtml/gwjc1.html
Tickets
$8 Adult, $5 Children 10-15 years
Children Under 10 are admitted free
Half price for GMU student, faculty and staffs
Film Festival Screenings
Vesoul Film Festival, France
Telluride International Mountain Film festival, USA
4th Cinefan international Film Festival, Delhi
Third Eye International Film Festival, Bombay.
12 th Fukuoka International Film Festival , Japan
For more information please contact us at
info@inls.org
http://www.inls.org
International Nepali Literary Society, Washington DC
in association with Suskera.com, Nepalese Student Association-George Mason University, Sagarmatha Television and Nepalhorizons.com
presents
a film by Nabin Subba
NUMAFUNG
(A Beautiful Flower)
A Nepali Film
(English Subtitles, 108min)
Winner of Public Choice Awards, 9th Vesoul Film Festival, France
We cordially invite DC Metro Nepalese Community and Friends of Nepal to learn about people living in the beautiful hills of Nepal and request you to support our effort in
Keeping Nepali Identity Alive in the Nepali Diaspora
Introduction
Nepal has 70 castes and ethnic groups. Each of them has a distinct culture and tradition. Even these days, many of these cultures have remained untouched from external influences. Limbu is one of such communities. Limbu are mostly settled in the southern part of Mount Kanchanjunga, and are mostly farmers but some of them have taken to serving as soldiers in the British Gurkha regiments. With Mongolian looks, Limbu has its own language and cultural identity. They have a unique set of ceremonies for birth, marriage and death, and love marriage is as common as arranged marriage. During the marriage a groom has to pay the brides family in gold and cash in return for brides beauty. This is also to appreciate the parents for having brought up their daughter. This is called Sunauli-Rupauli tradition. This tradition, started as a gesture to give security to the bride, has now turned into and exploitative tool. After the marriage, if the girl leaves her husband, the girls family has to compensate the groom by paying double the amount they received from the groom. This is called Jaari Time . If the girl elopes with another man, and the new husband couldnt pay the compensation, the first husband has the right to hack the new husband. This is called Jaar Katney . The law prohibits this tradition, but is still being carried on within the community.
Project Description
Numafung is a story of a young girl who is exploited time and again in the name of culture and tradition, and who eventually stands up against the system. This film is about the kind of social system that facilitates exploitation. It shows how some people decide to stand up against the society and its system.
This film is first of its kind about Limbu people living in the beautiful hills of Nepal.
Epilogue
In the Nepalese film industry there is the domination of the commercial cinema because of which filmmaking has become formula driven. Therefore there is a very little scope for making socially realistic and artistic films. In spite of such market driven environment, there has been some arbitrary attempts at making good films. However without any governmental and non-governmental support, the future of these films are very unpredictable.
Nepal has more than 70 ethnic communities, but the commercial Nepalese films never reflect the culture and tradition of these various ethnic communities being in minority. It is, therefore necessary to encourage making of films, which help in portraying and protecting the culture of the various ethnic communities.
Supports from all sides are solicited to save this kind of filmmaking in Nepal.
Parts of the proceeds will also be donated from the DC Metro screenings to:
International Nepali Literary Society (INLS) Worldwide Nepali Education Program
http://www.inls.org/nepali
INLS Worldwide Nepali Education Program aims to lunch projects throughout Nepali Diaspora to preserve Nepali identity. In addition to establishing School of Languages and Cultures of Nepal in various communities, screening and promotion of Nepali films that exhibit Nepali culture and tradition is part of this project.
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