The Ditible
Kathmandu, May 13 — Kathmandu Metropolitan City Mayor Balendra Shah, popularly known as Balen, will be attending the renowned Cannes Film Festival in France. Accompanied by his management advisor, Kumar Byanjankar, and infrastructure advisor, Sunil Lamsal, the mayor departed for France on Monday evening.
Mayor Shah received a personal invitation from Cannes Mayor David Lisnard and is expected to spend three days at the festival. During his stay, he will participate in various programs, including a meeting with Mayor Lisnard and the festival director, as well as attend the festival’s red carpet and premiere.
A special reception will be held in Mayor Shah’s honor at the Multimedia Library in Cannes. Although the agenda for the bilateral meeting with Mayor Lisnard and the festival director is yet to be determined, Mayor Shah plans to utilize this opportunity to learn more about the audio-visual content creation chain in Cannes.
This visit is significant as Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, was recently recognized by UNESCO as a ‘Creative City of Film’ in October 2023. The city of Cannes also holds the same designation, making this an excellent platform for both cities to exchange knowledge and expertise in the film industry.
Mayor Lisnard’s invitation letter highlighted the festival as an opportunity for creative film cities to connect and learn from each other’s experiences. He also expressed the possibility of exploring the On-Air audio-visual content chain during Mayor Shah’s visit.
While no Nepali films were selected for this year’s festival, two films with Nepali connections made it to the lineup. “The Seamless,” shot in Nepal, was selected for the Un Certain Regard category, and “Tara: A Lost Star,” a Nepali-language film, was chosen for the market screening category. Both films feature Nepali artists and technicians.
The 77th Cannes Film Festival is scheduled from May 14th to 25th. Following its recognition as a Creative City of Film, the Kathmandu Metropolitan City is actively working towards fostering the growth and development of the film industry in the capital.
