The Asian Film Conference organized by the Asia Cinema Society, which has been suspended for a long time due to Covid, was held at the University of Hong Kong just a few weeks ago.

In the fourteenth edition of this conference, which was attended by more than two hundred participants from around the world, experts who are connected to the study and teaching work in many prestigious universities around the world presented their concepts on the philosophical analysis, aesthetic thinking and intersubjective diversity of films produced in the Asian continent.

What kind of 'discourse' i.e. discussions are taking place in the academic activities of the world film sector, it is also an important part for stakeholders interested in the development of the Nepali film sector. 

Nepali movies and the struggle of identity 

Films representing the Nepali new wave like 'Sambala', 'Gaon Inya Bato', 'Radha' and 'Pooja Sir' were seen in various international conferences by the foreign viewers, although in informal discussions, discussing Nepali films was a pleasant aspect in itself. However, in the formal discussions held at the conference about Asian cinema, it was strange that there was no discussion about Nepali films in any context. At the

conference, while mainly Chinese and Japanese films were gaining influence within the broader framework of Asian cinema, the discussion of South Asian cinema was also more limited to the discussion of films produced by Mumbai and other regional film industries in India. Even though our experiences and practices regarding the development and ups and downs of an artistic genre like

film seem appropriate for other countries, because the film experts of other countries are not aware of the development of Nepali films, Nepali films could not even enter as an example in the papers presented at the conference.

It was clearly seen that the state's indifference towards academic work in the field of film in Nepal was reflected in the low debate on Nepali films held at the conference. In Nepal, the fact that there is no postgraduate or higher level study in film, the study of cinema research in undergraduates has shrunk due to the conceptual narrowing of teaching universities, and the development board itself has not shown attention to the issues of management of resources that spoil the culture of study and research in film.

interdisciplinary knowledge and cinema  At the

international conference, discussing various conceptual aspects of Buddhist philosophy with the many dimensions of cinema is itself a novel academic practice. In this edition of the Asia Cinema Conference, many Chinese researchers were aware of the fact that many Chinese researchers are researching by conceptually linking the philosophies of Buddha to the intersubjective analysis of cinema.

Colonial thinking and the thought of creating regional dominance of knowledge in many papers prepared, mainly from Buddhist philosophy, Zen Buddhism, Confucius and Tao philosophy, the proof of study and research in many parts of Chinese and Japanese cinema was seen directly.

In addition, the discussion on the important questions of how Asian films are constructing audio-visual values ​​to pollute the culture of world humanity was interesting in itself. In the conference, there was a considerable debate about the dialectic of nationalism and the creative challenges of internationalizing local themes in cinema.

Nepal's academic field is dominated by those who believe in 'disciplinary eugenics', the narrow walls of knowledge creation have not been broken yet. As a result, there are very few scholarly materials available on Nepali movies today, due to the fact that experts in other subjects have rarely thought about the themes in the movies.

eco cinema and artificial intelligence 

When the effects of climate change are worrying the world human community, it is a good thing to discuss environmental issues even at the film conference. Eco-cinema, which weaves stories into the interrelationship of cinema, the natural world and humans with animals, was also the subject of serious debate at the Asian Cinema Conference.

In the opinion of the presenters of the paper on this matter, the concept of eco cinema should focus on critically studying the content of the film on the environmental issue, raising the bar of ethics in presenting the issue and presenting a critical awareness about which filmmakers are making films for what purpose.

In many documentaries made on environmental issues in Nepal, the concept of eco-cinema comes directly and indirectly. However, due to the lack of intellectual capacity to think about it, the environment and environmental themes raised by our narrative and non-narrative films are rarely discussed in national and international academic conferences.

The fact that there is no cinema-related journal published in Nepal so far, the articles written about Nepali cinema are limited to Nepali language only, the world academic world has become as if unaware of the cinema-related activities happening in Nepal. 

Asian cinema and marginalized voices  In addition to

mainstream films, several Chinese and Tibetan films that raised the voices of marginalized groups were also discussed at the conference. In addition to this, the cinematography and sound aesthetics of the experimental films are discussed in depth, and women and third 

The discussion on gender characterization also added to the prestige of the conference. Indian university professors presented their views on the issues of language struggle and cultural identity in India and the representation and authenticity of Indian films.

The writer of this article mentioned when presenting the historical development of Nepali cinema that two decades ago, alternative films such as Mukundo, Numafung, Kagbeni had carved a different path for Nepali cinema while the Nepali film industry was dominated by one caste, class and region for a long time. 

Finally, filmmaking and the scholarly critique of film are interrelated activities. The scholarly achievement of film clearly guides the field of film. In this perspective, when the culture of film research is only starting to move in Nepal, it would be meaningful to explore the possibility of spending the budget in the field of film research as Kathmandu metropolis is also declaring itself as a UNESCO film-friendly city.

In addition, in the matter of Nepali filmmakers expecting a transformative role of the Film Development Board, among the many tasks to be done by this organization, it seems that the academic development of Nepali films should also be done to achieve qualitative results.