Another View 2017 / Seto Surya / Nepal, USA, Qatar, Netherlands 2016
A partisan named Chandra who fought against monarchy and dictatorship returns home years later to a Nepalese mountain village to bury his father. But he arrives in the middle of a traditional burial ceremony, and after a conflict he is forced to complete the process merely with the help of two children. Perhaps their journey signifies more than mere submission to the bygone ways Chandra fought against, but also hope for a brighter future for a country at a crossroads.
A former anti-regime partisan named Chandra returns home to a Nepalese mountain village that, like so many, did not escape the consequences of the long civil war. He’s come to deal with the death of his father, whom the villagers have decided to bury in the traditional way despite the complications this involves. Tension between Chandra and his brother, who has different political ideas, interrupts the ceremony before the villagers can carry the body down to the river. So Chandra, his stepdaughter, and his supposed son must journey to surrounding villages to find people to help them bury the old man according to ancient ritual – even though the purpose of the trip is against everything Chandra believes in. The director of Highway, a powerful portrayal of Nepal’s fragile peace process that broke through at prestigious international film festivals, focuses this time around on contemporary issues in his homeland. This paradoxical story of a former Maoist rebel plays up the objective contrast between Nepal’s current path to a new constitution and traditions that survived the hasty burial of the monarchy.
Jakub Jiřiště
89 min / Color, DCP
Director Deepak Rauniyar
/ Screenplay Deepak Rauniyar, David Barker
/ Dir. of Photography Mark O‘Fearghail
/ Music Vivek Maddala
/ Editor David Barker
/ Art Director Menuka Rai, Akki Thekpa
/ Producer Deepak Rauniyar, Joslyn Barnes, Tsering Rhitar Sherpa, Michel Merkt
/ Production Aadi Production
/ Coproduction Louverture Films
/ Cast Dayahang Rai, Asha Magrati, Rabindra Singh Baniya, Sumi Malla, Amrit Pariyar
/ Sales The Match Factory
Deepak Rauniyar (b. 1978, Saptari, Nepal) became the first Nepalese director to compete at a prestigious international film festival. His debut Highway world premiered at the Berlinale 2012 and also played Locarno. In his own country, the social drama provoked a heated reaction due to the singularly realistic portrayal of the contemporary situation for much of the citizenry. Other Nepalese directors followed Rauniyar’s example, choosing topics connected to issues facing a country crippled by long years of civil war. White Sun is the director’s second feature and it surpassed the festival success of his debut, with participation at the festivals in Venice, Toronto, Singapore, and Palm Springs, where the director took his first significant awards.
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