Kia ora koutou!
SOPHIE'S BLOG 4: KATHMANDU: By the time we got home last night I was absolutely exhausted, so I decided to wait until today to write my blog. Lei and I attended the workshop yesterday morning, but the original presenter, Suvi West, had fallen ill (like many of the international guests have, not us luckily) and in her place was French-Canadian filmmaker Marie-Helene Cousinneau. She spoke about her experience working with Inuit communities to produce the film Before Tomorrow, which is available online at www.isuma.tv if you want to check it out. She also talked about the use of the internet as an alternative method of distribution with a particular emphasis on the Isuma TV website as an ideal space for Indigenous film.
We then went across the road for film screenings, which included our friend Jia-Wei's film about the traditions of the indigenous Tao people during the flying fish season. It was so interesting, and they looked and spoke a bit like Maori! We watched a couple of Nepali films that came under heavy criticism by the Nepali audience, but were thoroughly enjoyable to those of us who were unfamiliar. One amazing film that we had the privilege of seeing was Children of the Amazon, directed by a native of Sao Paulo in Brazil, Denise Zmekhol. It documented her journey travelling back to the Amazon after 15 years in an attempt to find out what happened to the children she photographed way back then. It was beautiful to watch.
We came home and (as has been the way here) started getting ready for dinner. We were to meet at the City Hall and go to the restaurant from there, so a group of us caught a couple of cabs from the hotel. There must have been a kink in the line of communication and we went galavanting around a place called Thamel, which has narrow streets and tons of little stalls and stuff. Definitely going to go there in the next couple of days.
Finally made it to dinner and we were led into this sort of boutique shopping centre, that we later found out used to be a cattle shed for the Nepali royals many years ago. The restaurant was lovely, and the walls were adorned with large portraits of all the kings of the past. There was traditional dancing and beautiful food, and we were blessed and offered special welcome drink (a very nice whisky apparently, which was very strong)!
And then, our AMAZING morning flying over none other than Mt Everest! The airport was a nightmare, but we were lucky to have Minnie (the Indian filmmaker) with us, who knew exactly how to get what she wanted. Next thing we were drifting over the most beautiful mountain ranges you have ever seen, and we even got to take turns standing in the cockpit to get a front view. If there is ever anything I would recommend anyone to do if they come over here, this would be it. Absolutely magical!
We got back at about 9.30am, had brekkie, and now we are going to have a little sleep before we head off to my screening. I'm a bit nervous now, I have no idea how people will respond to my film. But I look forward to showing something of our culture since many people have no idea what 'Maori' means! Tonight we go to the Gokarna Resort for the Red Carpet evening and Awards night. Yet another night of wining and dining - I think I could get used to this!
Ka kite ano, will write again tomorrow xx
Sophie
Pacific Media Centre
