Elephants in the Fog
Matriarch to a group of trans-women, Pirati's (40) plan to embark on an independent life is suddenly derailed when one of her daughters goes missing while patrolling to keep the wild elephants away.
What have you achieved so far with the BoostNL programme?
Through our participation in BoostNL, where we got to have a one-on-one session with our script advisor Kate Leys, we were able to finish the financing draft of our screenplay. We still have one more session left with her. Following that session, we will be finalizing our script by January 2023.
During the sessions with advisors for direction and cinematography, we developed the visual style of the film and the work with the actors.
Not only did we learn how to pitch our project in the most effective way possible, but also we understood how to use marketing tools in order to get a clear idea about our target audience.
We developed two posters for the specific target audience as part of our assignments and we also received two special mention awards at the end of the program.
What would be your ideal next steps for your project?
After participating in different project markets we have summed up potential co-producers from France, the Netherlands and Germany. The next step is to collaborate with these co-producers and apply to every fund the project is eligible for.
Since the production schedule is set up for December 2023, we are focusing on finalising the cast and crew. The initial location recce has already started and we will be finalising the casting by March 2023. We will be finalising the DOP, sound mixer and music composer very soon, preferably from Europe.
In the financing we are also seeking other minority co-producers from countries such as Norway, Poland, Taiwan and Denmark to meet up our budget.
Director’s Bio:
Abinash Bikram Shah is an award-winning writer/director based in Nepal. An alumnus of Locarno Filmmakers Academy, Berlinale Talents, and Asian Film Academy, he has written, directed, and produced short films that have participated and won at many International Film Festivals.
His most recent short film Lori became the first Nepali film to be officially selected at Cannes Film Festival (2022). Shortlisted for the Palme d’Or Short Award, Lori received a Special Jury Mention Award.
Abinash has also written a few feature films that have premiered in Berlin International Film Festival (2012) and Venice – International Film Critics Week (2015), and that were also Nepal's Official Entry for Oscar in Best Foreign Language Film section.
Abinash is currently preparing for his feature directorial debut.
Producer’s Bio:
Anup Poudel is a producer based in Nepal. A graduate of Oscar College of Film Studies in Kathmandu, Anup has graduated in film production from Busan Asian Film School.
His short films as a producer have been selected in main competition at festivals such as Cannes, Venice, Busan, Winterthur, Montreal, Uppsala, Galway and many more.
He was also awarded by the US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton for his short film. He has recently completed three short films and a feature, submitted across various film festivals.
Abinash Bikram Shah, director
Anup Poudel, producer
