MARYLAND 2023 | NAIFF — Nepal America International Film Festival of Maryland, organized by the Nepal America Film Society, has announced the lineup for its 2023 festival. It includes debut features from writer-directors Saim Sadiq (Joyland, Pakistan) and Sujit Bidari (Butterfly on a Windowpane, Nepal).
NAIFF2023 will take place from June 22 to June 25 at the AFI Silver Theater and Culture Center in Silver Spring and at the Old Greenbelt Theatre in Greenbelt, Maryland. Thirty-eight films from 11 countries, including shorts and features, will be screened during the festival.
This year’s festival will also feature two films as part of the Global Peace Film Festival Sidebar — ‘Barry Farm: Community, Land, and Justice in Washington DC’ directed by Sam George, and ‘World Peace and Other 4th Grade Achievements’ directed by Chris Farina. Short film ‘Lori,’ directed by Abinash Bikram Shah and awarded a Special Mention at the 75th Cannes Film Festival, and director Deepak Rauniyar’s short film ‘Four Nights,’ will also be featured in the festival.
Nepal’s official submission for the Best International Feature Film to the 95th Academy Awards, Butterfly On A Windowpane, will open this year’s festival on Thursday, June 22, at the AFI Silver Theater. The screening will follow a red-carpet event featuring guests and filmmakers. The closing night at the same venue on Sunday, June 26, will screen ‘PASANG: In the Shadow of Everest’ directed by Nancy Svendsen.
Throughout the festival, a variety of events supported by the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission will take place, including talk programs and panel discussions at Brentwood Arts Exchange. The lineup for talk programs and panel discussions will be announced soon.
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The full film lineup is detailed below:
Features
1. Butterfly on the Windowpane | 93 min | Nepal | Dir.Sujit Bidari (Opening)
2. Pasang: In the Shadow of Everest | 67 min | USA | Dir. Nancy Svendsen (Closing)
3. Children of Peace| 93 min | Israel | Dir. Maayan Schwartz
4. Elephant | 73 min | Poland | Dir. Kamil Krawczycki
5. Joyland |126 min | Pakistan | Dir.Saim Sadiq
6. On These Mountains | 75 min | Italy | Dir. Andrea Sbarretti
7. Sloane: A Jazz Singer | 96 Min | USA| Dir. Michael Lippert
8. The Riyalists |69 min | Nepal | Dir. Kesang Tseten
9. The Secrets of Radha | 95 min | Nepal | Dir. Subarna Thapa
10. When We Were Saints | 65 min | USA | Dir. Theodore Adams III
Global Peace Film Festival — SideBar Section
11. Barry Farm: Community, Land, and Justice in Washington DC | 50 min | USA |Dir. Sabiyha Prince & Samuel George
12. World Peace and Other 4th Grade Achievements | 50 min | USA |Dir. Chris Farina
Shorts
13. A Journey of Innocent | 6.01 min | Nepal | Dir. Pratibha Pant, Kalpana Ban
14. Coming Out With The Help Of A Time Machine | 15 min | USA | Dir. Naman Gupta
15. Dinner Intended for two | 1.4 min | Iran | Dir. Bahram Akbari Zarin Ghabaei
16. Do Ducks Migrate |25 min | India | Dir. Midhun G Babu
17. Four Nights| 14 min | USA/ Nepal/ Mexico | Dir. Deepak Rauniyar
18. Gosain: The Colours of Spring | 27.30 min | India | Dir.Bishal Swargiary
19. Gurkha Girl | 34 min | Nepal | Dir. Bishal Roka Magar
20. Gyani Maiya | 25 min | Nepal | Dir. Subhashish Panigrahi
21. Jarna | 10 min | Nepal | Dir. Enuma Rai
22. Junko |14.59 min | Nepal | Dir. Minsho Limbu
23. Kathmandu Monsoon | 18:20 min | Nepal | Dir. Ngima Gelu Sherpa
24. Khulla Aakash | 7:31 min | Nepal | Dir. Dimpal Rajthala, Bhawana Adhikari
25. Lori | 14 min | Nepal | Dir. Abinash Bikram Sha
26. Mero Buwa | 6.54 min | Nepal | Dir. Shrisha Kunwar, Angela Chaudhary
27. Pianoman | 53 min | USA | Dir. Sunny Wenxin Liu
28. Resurrection under the Ocean | 2.57 min | Turkey | Dir. Serkan Aktaş
29. Sound of the Lake | 5.19 min| USA | Dir. Cale Green, Johnny Holder, Daphne Wong
30. The Mirage | 26.30 min | Nepal | Dir. Santosh Dahal
31. The Sound of Dreaming | 28.45 min | Nepal | Dir. Kalani Gacon
32. The True Summit | 30 min | USA | Dir. Corban Robbe
33. Unsolvable | 7.06 min | China | Liang Han
34. VALERY | 6.21 min | Nepal | Dir. Derek Patterson
35. Wheels On The Bus| 15.24 min | Nepal | Dir. Surya Shahi
36. Where the winds die | 12.54 min | Iran | Dir. Pejman Alipour
37. Yet Another Winter | 22.22 min | Nepal | Dir. Kiran SHRESTHA