Five Nepali filmmakers, Aashruti Tripathy, Pinki Sris Rana, Prashansha KC, Prasuna Dongol, and Smriti Basnet, have arrived at DocFest in search of financial partners for their projects and to network with the great and the good of the international doc scene. They are in Sheffield as part of British Council’s Gender Film Programme led by #Docs Connect Taskovski Film Training in collaboration with Nepal Female Filmmakers, Pame Film and Music Festival, and Film Development Board Nepal.
“This collaboration with the British Council Nepal led by Nischal Oli and in UK office Jay Arnold, is a further step towards building a stronger documentary filmmaking base in Nepal,” comments Taskovski Films founder, Irena Taskovski, CEO & Founder of Taskovski Films whose #docs connect programme is core to the training.
“We are happy to support this cohort of Nepalese women filmmakers. We have been helping them develop their local stories that can be internationally recognised. Over the six months, we have conducted individual sessions and group sessions with international tutors. Sharing resources, and watching films have been another important part of the training. Another main aim of jointly initiating this specific program is to provide these young women with the opportunity to travel to Sheffield DocFest and learn how to prepare for industry events, meet possible collaborators and present their ideas,” Taskovski adds.
Taskovski explained to Business Doc Europe how during her #docs connect programme participants are offered all-encompassing, holistic training, connecting everything from the creative process of development, producing, festival strategies and (impact) distribution to get the project out into the world to the widest possible audience. “[Producers and filmmakers] know how to produce and produce in their own countries. But often they don’t know about the possibilities to collaborate in the international market. So we focus on development and distribution, where people from around the world bring creative, auteur-driven stories, and with our year-long workshops and certified training programs we guide them to find a way how to make these authentic stories cross borders and make impact,” says Taskovski.