Gangamaya Adhikari’s son, Krishna Prasad Adhikari, was abducted and killed by the Maoists in June 2004. In 2013, Gangamaya Adhikari and her husband, Nanda Prasad Adhikari, went on a hunger strike demanding that the perpetrators of the crime be brought to a fair trial. The state mechanisms of Nepal first tried to admit them to a mental asylum, and when the case finally made it to Supreme Court, the trial kept being postponed. In the process of demanding justice, Gangamaya lost her husband, but she has continued with her peaceful protest. This is the subject matter of Gopal Sivakoti’s Save Ganagamaya, which saw its Nepal premiere on Saturday, at the biennial Film Southasia 2017, currently ongoing at Yala Maya Kendra, in Patan. 

In the midst of turmoil, it is often difficult to makes sense of the unfolding events, but the movie, Save Gangamaya—despite the fact that the unfolding of the events outpaces the film’s narrative—“stands testament to the suffering of the subject, the oppression of the state, and is bound to remain as a historical artifact of our life and times,” said Kanak Mani Dixit, chair of the biennial festival. The festival, now 20 years old, continues to serve up a wide array of issues that South Asians grapple with. 

Chandra Shekar’s Reddy’s Fireflies in the Abyss delves into the lives of those who are squeezed to death in the coal pits of Megalaya, most of whom are Nepalis. The film depicts the life of a young Nepali boy whose poverty forces him to crawl through the mines everyday. 

The documentary Satisaal in the Inferno recounts the life of Raamesh—one of the founding members of the RALFA group—whose words and tunes inspired a generation of writers and politicians, and helped uplight the oppressed. He now has to live with the terrible realisation that the ones who he helped rise to power have now become the oppressors. In Prison Sisters, an Afghan woman returns to her home to search for her former prison mate only to be lost in the labyrinths of rumours in the streets of the country.

A total of 63 movies are being screened at this year’s festival, some of which have been censored or banned in their home countries. Lauding the risk taken by the 

filmmakers, Shahi Kumar, a noted Indian journalist and the Chief Guest of the festival, said that films being screened at the festival challenge the powerful and the mighty. 

This year, the festival also saw a large number of films made by women directors. According to the festival director, Meetu Varma, the film made by women were chosen solely on the merit of the film; but “it is a political assertion that women are doing great work,” added Rajashree Dasgupta, one of the jury members of the festival. 

Along with film screenings, there are also several panel discussions on the subject of the importance of making more documentaries of dissent, and issues of feminism and gender equality, especially during a transitional period like the one South Asia is currently going through. 

The festival will conclude on Sunday with an award ceremony. 

The participating films will be judged by a panel comprising editor Kunda Dixit, journalist Rajashree Dasgupta, and filmmaker Farjad Nabi. 

The award will be handed out in five different categories.