Entertainment
Chasing reality
Prina Raj Joshi is a journalist and a documentary filmmaker.visit to the US, Joshi talked to Nhooja Tuladhar about documentary cinema. Excerpts:
What are you working on these days?
Currently, I am on a visit to some universities in the US to interact with the students and teachers of filmmaking and participate in various workshops related to the field. Also, since I have been invited by an American university as a guest lecturer, I plan to take up the role and exchange ideas on making films about indigenous subjects.
How long has it been since you have been travelling the country?
I’ve been here for about three months now. I was in New York sometimes back where my film Wounds of War was screened by the Cineminga. The audience included students of media and journalism and Nepalis living in the US.
I also participated in a cell phone journalism workshop, which was quite insightful.
Tell us something about your film Wounds of War.
Wounds of War is a documentary that centres around the People’s War. It is a 45-minute-long film that makes use of rare archival footages as well as shots from my travels to the areas in Nepal that were most affected by the war. It deals with how both sides, the Maoists and the state, violated human rights during war and how most of the victims are yet to receive justice.
How did the non-Nepali audience respond to your film in New York?
The film was very well received.
We had a question-and-answer session after the screening and people seemed very curious regarding the making of the film. It is a work of investigative journalism, so I guess the people understood the danger and difficulty of working on such a topic.
I think the documentary was especially useful for the journalism and media students. Since it is an in-depth unbiased reportage of what happened during the Maoist Revolution, I think the students learned quite a lot from it.
What about the Nepalis and the Nepali diaspora in the US? How did they react to it?
Many in the audience were people who hadn’t had the first-hand experience of the war, and their source of information was the media. Now, since most people rely on just one or two media for news, there are chances that this might, intentionally or unintentionally, give people only one side of the story. And besides, mainstream media filters a lot of information and does not report on so many things. So, I think the audience came across lots of previously unknown facts while watching my documentary.
What are your plans for the near future?
I’ve been lucky enough to screen my films around the world and gain a larger audience base. So, even in the future, I want to continue showing my works to diverse audiences.
It is commercially more viable for me to show my works to people around the world. And the other reason behind this is that showcasing our social, political and cultural aspects to the international audience helps us shape our global identity. Our country has a lot more than just mountains, and we shouldn’t fall behind in letting the world know about it.
How can documentary films help a country?
Documentary films are reality-based and they portray society as it is. Through such films, we can bring about awareness in the people (both at national and international levels) about our present situation. And this awareness could, in turn, help us in conserving our traditions and environment.
It is surprising to see that many people in our country are unaware about what’s happening around them. My films help them know the truth, interpret the situation and work for change. People have the right to know all the rights and wrongs happening in their country and around the world, and my job is to help them understand what exactly is happening and how it came about.
I believe that filmmaking is one of the most powerful mediums of change. So, I think that documentary filmmaking has a very important role to play in informing the people of our country about our socio-political condition and turning them into agents of change.
A word of advice for upcoming documentary filmmakers.
I am the first person from my family to make filmmaking a profession. Since I received no guidance from my family and relatives, I was forced to do a lot of research and do things on my own. It was difficult in the beginning. But now I have come to realise that all those years of hard work and independent study have helped me become what I am today. This profession demands a lot of hard work
and sacrifice. So I would like to advise those interested in this field to work hard and be patient. Also, along with in-depth research about the subject, documentary filmmakers should also be careful about the script and plan things beforehand. You never know when your film will be completed, or where you’ll end up; but it is always better to plan your next move.