Mayor Balen on the Cannes red carpet

On the invitation of Cannes Mayor David Lisnard, management consultant Kumar Vyanjankar, infrastructure consultant Sunil Lamsal flew to France on May 1 to watch this film, known as a long-time "passion project" of Coppola, the director of masterpiece films like "Godfather". The story of Mayor is connected in this science fiction film. 'Megalapolis' imagines the New York City of the future and tells the story of an architect who sets out to rebuild the devastated city. However, a corrupt mayor stands in front of his plan.

Kathmandu Metropolis received the recognition of UNESCO's Creative Film City this year. Cannes, which is recognized by UNESCO, invited Mayor Shah to participate in the film festival. UNESCO-recognized Cannes is also one of the creative cities of film. UNESCO sends mayors of creative cities to the festival every year. As part of that, the mayor of Cannes called us," Vyanjankar said, "that festival is a very big festival in Cannes. Even though it started from a private level, the local government is investing heavily from the financial side.

On the day of the world premiere of 'Megalapolis', when Mayor Shah measured the red carpet, Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was also present there. Apart from watching the world premiere of 'Megalapolis', Shah also attended a cocktail reception and cocktail dinner organized exclusively for mayors. During that time, Shah talked about a city becoming world famous through the film itself. Our mayor had a unique experience of how they made Cannes a film city. With the presence of 2/3 lakh spectators along with celebrities from all over the world, the festival made a city known all over the world," says Vyanjankar, "There used to be only talk of films throughout the city. Celebrities from Bollywood to Hollywood were seen in the streets of the city.'

Mayor Shah has learned from the Cannes experience that this kind of film festival can be organized in Kathmandu as well. According to management consultant Vyanjankar, now Kathmandu metropolis is planning to organize a separate 'film festival'. It is preparing to form a 'Kathmandu Film Board' like the Film Development Board. He also said that emphasis will be placed on how to connect Nepali films through the festival and bring them to the international level.

This is the 77th edition of Cannes. We cannot organize a festival of that level in one year. However, the mayor is of the opinion that we should organize such a festival in 5/7 years,' he said, 'there are plans from creating a film market to bringing Nepali films to the international market.' He said that the metropolis will also help to facilitate the films coming to Nepal for filming. In the policy and program recently submitted by the government, the issue of attracting Hollywood/Bollywood films for shooting in Nepal was included.

This time, through 'The Seamless', which was selected in Cannes, there was a great possibility of making Nepal known as a filming location. However, that does not seem to be the case. 90% of the shooting of "The Seamless" was done in Nepal. This film made by a Bulgarian director features Nepali actors Luniva Tuladhar, former Miss Nepal Nikita Chandak, Prakash Ghimire, Sarita Shah and others. Nepali director Shanta Nepali has joined this film as an associate producer.

This film, prepared in France, Switzerland, Taiwan, has been shot in places like Koteshwar, Asan, Janakpur etc. He was unable to see the film because the time of the film's release and the day when the mayor would arrive at Cannes did not match. Shanta says that through the film produced by Shanta's company Shanta Nepali Production Line, Shahta lost the opportunity to introduce Nepal as a cinematographer in Cannes.

'Even though The Seamless was not made in our story, Nepali actors joined it, the film has spent a lot of money in Nepal,' Shanta said, 'Also, because of the film, we realized that Nepal is suitable for filming. Mayer also reached Cannes when the film arrived. But since there was no stall of Nepal in Cannes, the mayor lost the opportunity to introduce Nepal as a filming location. Shanta herself could not participate in Cannes due to lack of time. It was an opportunity for a film shot in Kathmandu to reach such a festival and since the mayor was also there, Nepal could be known as a filming location. But, this time it happened like this,' she said.

Director Avinash Bikram Shah, who recently won a Special Mention in Cannes with 'Lullaby', says that when Meyer reaches such a festival, it will broaden the importance of the film. "If a government representative attends the film festival or a famous person outside the film industry like him (Balen) comes to the festival, others will understand the importance of the film," he said. He is hopeful that the metropolis will start a Cannes-like festival. "We are also hopeful that he (Mayor) will now help Nepali filmmakers to reach there," Avinash said, "You can also encourage Nepali filmmakers to reach there."

Director Naveen Subba, who has reached the world famous film festival 'Toronto' and 'Busan' through 'Gaon Inya Bato' this year, believes that Mayor Shah's visit should convey a positive message to the policy makers. "If Balenji has come with the awareness that a film festival of that level should be held in Kathmandu, then it would have been suitable for the film sector as well," said Subba. Film critic Yagnyash also sees it as a positive that the mayor is reaching such a festival among politicians who ignore the film sector. "When the politicians of Nepal do not care about the film sector and do not have knowledge about films, it is a positive aspect that the mayor of the metropolis reaches such a festival," says Yagyash. After participating in such festivals, Yagyash suggests that Mayor Shah's team should be involved in organizing a film festival of the same level.

The Berlin Film Festival is organized by the German government and the city of Berlin. Festivals like Venice and Locarno are organized with the help of local governments. "Kathmandu has also been declared a film city," Yajnash said, "The attention of other government agencies does not go here, so this work should be done by the metropolis."

Ramita Limbu, who is organizing the Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival (KIMF), says that the 'exposure' that the mayor got at the festival is very important. He hopes that this will bring positive changes in the Nepali film industry.

Director Meen Bham, who reached Berlin's main competition this year with Shambala, believes that in future such festivals should be attended with a plan. "Not only the mayor, if someone from the state side discusses with the filmmakers before going to such a festival, Nepal's presence will be strengthened," he said.