MARYLAND 2025 | NAIFF — Nepal America International Film Festival of Maryland, organized annually by the Nepal America Film Society, has announced the lineup for its 2025 edition.
It includes acclaimed Nepali features — Shambhala (Berlin Main Competition title 2024) directed by Min Bahadur Bham, Pooja, Sir (Venice-premiered 2024) by Deepak Rauniyar, and The World’s Happiest Man (a Nepali film made in the USA, 2025) by director Binod Paudel — along with a host of other remarkable features, documentaries, and shorts from countries across the globe.
NAIFF 2025 is set to take place from June 26 to June 29 at the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Spring, and the Greenbelt Cinema in Greenbelt, Maryland. This year’s edition will screen a total of 31 films from 15 countries, including both shorts and feature-length works. The films were selected from submissions by the selection committee comprising filmmakers and film scholars from Nepal, the United States, and South Africa.
As in previous years, this year’s festival will include two films as part of the Global Peace Film Festival sidebar — War Tails by director Olha Byrledianu, and Lithium Rising: The Race for Critical Minerals by director Samuel George. The DMV Close-Up section will feature A Christmas Bonus, directed by Prince George’s County-based filmmaker Chaka Balamani, along with a selection of other short films from the region. The acclaimed documentary Devi, directed by Subina Shrestha, and We Are Inside by Farah Kassem will also be screened during the festival.
Shambhala is slated to open NAIFF 2025 on June 26 at the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center, following a red-carpet event featuring special guests and attending filmmakers. The festival will close at the same venue on June 29 with a screening of Pooja, Sir, followed by a red-carpet event and an awards ceremony. The World’s Happiest Man will also be showcased with a red-carpet screening, featuring cast and crew members from the United States and Nepal.
Besides the film exhibition, the NAIFF 2025 program will also include a roundtable discussion, a master class, and other events at the Brentwood Arts Exchange in Brentwood, supported by the Maryland National Capital Parks and Planning Commission. The festival is supported by the Prince George’s Arts and Humanities Council and other valued partners.
“We’re proud to present films that reflect the richness of cultures and the strength of human stories—of struggle, resilience, and joy. Sharing these powerful narratives with our audience is what makes NAIFF so special. It’s a true celebration of storytelling for all of us,” says Yubakar Rajkarnikar, Festival Director of the Nepal America International Film Festival.
The full film lineup is detailed below:
Opening Film –
- Shambhala | 150 min | Nepal | Dir. Min Bahadur Bham
Closing Film
- Pooja, Sir | 115 min | Nepal | Dir. Deepak Rauniyar
US Premiere
- The World’s Happiest Man (Bhuthan) | 101 min | Nepal/USA| Binod Paudel
Global Peace Film Festival — SideBar Section
- War Tails | 54 min | USA | Dir. Olha Byrledianu
- Lithium Rising: The Race for Critical Minerals | 60 min | USA | Dir. Samuel George
Feature
- Cartapesta: Carnival Of Fano – The Movie | 89 min | Italy | Dir. Andrea Lodovichetti
- Ch’ul Be, Sacred Path | 70 min | Mexico | Dir. Humberto Gómez Pérez
- Devi | 80 min | Nepal | Dir. Subina Shrestha
- Ghamar Taj | 61 min| Iran| Dir.Hadi Zarei, Mehdi Zarei
- Snow Leopard Sisters | 95 min | Nepal/UK | Dir. Ben Ayers, Sonam Choekyi Lama, Andrew Lynch
- We Are Inside| 180 min | Denmark, Lebanon, Qatar | Dir. Farah Kassem
DMV Close-up
- A Christmas Bonus | 88 min | USA | Dir. Chaka Balamani
- Dear Pra | 15 min | USA | Dir. Nitin S Adsul
- The Cousin | 12 min | USA | Dir. Amitabh Joshi
- The Last Wild Herd | 13 min | USA | Dir. Aayas Joshi, Anna Connors
Shorts
- Circle | 10 min | Turkey | Dir. Ferhat Ertan
- Clay Bird | 13 min | Nepal | Dir. Kiran Bhakta Joshi
- Coop | 12 min | Saudi Arabia| Dir. Mujtaba Zaki Alhejji
- Cow Killer | 25 min | Iran | Dir. Farhad Mohamadzadeh
- Left-handed | 19 min | Russian Federation | Dir. Yuri Vladimirovich Kuzin
- Maitighar | 15 min | Nepal | Dir. Marc Gurung
- Moon Belly | 30 min | Mexico | Liliana K’an
- Perfect Wall | 13 min | South Korea | Dir. Sea-Hoon Jeon
- Rotten Blood | 17 min | Nepal | Dir. Durga Bahadur Karki (Sayad)
- Ten out of the Ten | 7 min | Hungary | Dir. Imre Mazlo
- The Goddess | 12 min | Nepal | Dir. Shankar Dhital
- The Witness Tree | 15 min | Nepal| Dir. Niranjan Raj Bhetwal
- Wagging Tale | 23 min | Nepal | Dir. Samagra Shah
- Water Star Medicine | 8 min | USA | Dir. Dr. Lisa Spencer
- What grows in Thari Maila’s vegetable garden? | 14 min | Nepal | Dir. Patrika Ghimire
Please check our website nafilmsociety.org for complete festival programming including timing at each of the venues.