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| Username | Post |
| ashu | Posted
on 08-May-03 08:19 PM
Hi all, Nabin Subba, a Nepali film-maker, is a good friend of mine. I am posting this here as per his request and with his permission. His movie "Numafung" is excellent: please go see it at locations convenient to you on these dates. Most likely, Nabin himself will be present at all these screenings and will be happy to answer your questions. I will post the reviews of Numanfung later. Meantime, Kudos to Daniel, Soham, Surendra, Puru, Kshitij and Sushma (in NYC) for taking the responsibilities to screen Nabin's movies. I will post the NYC date once I hear from Sushma (Sushma -- are you reading this?) SCREENING of Numafung Date : May 31st Organizer : Daniel Tamang Venue - Berkley, CA Date : June 7th Organizer : Soham Dhakal. Address: Ph 314 963 0593. Cell - 636 346 8912 Venue - Winifred Moore Auditorium. 470 East Lockwood, St. Louis, MO, 63119 Date : June 14th Organizer : Surendra Lawoti Address: Ph 773 230 4806 fx:773 728 4783 Venue - Skokie, IL (Chicago Suburb) Date : June 21st Organizer : Puru Subedi Address: Ph. (703) 491-1014 Venue - University Cinema Hall , Geroge Mason University Date : July 4th Organizer : Association of Nepalis in Americas , Kshitij Sharma Address: Colorado Convention Venue - 4900 Marriot Hotel, South Syracuse, Denver, CO *********| oohi ashu ktm,nepal |
| Dr. No | Posted
on 08-May-03 08:38 PM
Ashu, Why didn't you hook Nabin up for a screening in the Greater Boston area? I would have assumed that you had a whole slew of buddies and admirers in that neck of the woods. Ke kaso? |
| ashu | Posted
on 08-May-03 11:07 PM
Dr. No, From what I understand from Nabin, Boston people wanted a week-end to screen the movie. But Nabin's week-ends are all booked up :-( Still, where there's a will, there's a way. Nabin may end up going to Boston . . . but he can decide that only when he gets to the US. I have urged Nabin NOT to miss Boston, where, for better or worse, yes, some of my harshest enemies and ardent admirers live in serene harmony (or so I wish), though not necessarily with one another :-) [Then again, as an ancient Chinese proverb says, "Beware of a man with no enemies: he lives not a true life."] oohi ashu ktm,nepal |
| Poonte | Posted
on 09-May-03 07:00 AM
Khai...kahile ho NY ma? Eagerly in pratikchhya... |
| vivid | Posted
on 09-May-03 08:58 AM
Poonte ji, Herey pachi feri man sadhai trai trai (trasit) hola ni, :P Most of Nabin ji's creations are worth viewing like ' Tareba' - pahuna, 'Thatthama'- ardhapagali, 'Numafung'- sundar fhool, mostly based on the tradition and cultural background of limbu society. 'Thatthama ta hall ma pase dekhi ko naniske samma ashu ko balindra dhara sangai herya ni afuleta. At least 'Numafung' ma chain alik rebellious nature ko character rakhya bhayera runu parena re kya ajha last ma. Nabin ji, Suvayatra abam suvakamana! |
| thaag | Posted
on 09-May-03 09:08 AM
'Numafung' is this a Nepali word?? What does it means? |
| Padme | Posted
on 09-May-03 09:10 AM
Ashu ji, Daniel Tamang ko contact information cha ki? Any details like movie location/time/ticket info would be appreciated. Thanks. |
| vivid | Posted
on 09-May-03 09:14 AM
Thaag ji, Numafung is a limbu word meaning sundar phool in nepali. Numa- sundari fung- phool. :) |
| vivid | Posted
on 09-May-03 09:29 AM
Introduction Nepal has 70 castes and ethnic groups. Each of these has a distinct culture and tradition. Even these days, many of these cultures have remained untouched from external influences. Limbu is one of such communities. Limbu are mostly settled in the southern part of Mount Kanchanjunga, and are mostly farmers but some of them have taken to serving as soldiers in the British Gurkha regiments. With Mongolian looks, Limbu has its own language and cultural identity. They have a unique set of ceremonies for birth, marriage and death, and love marriage is as common as arranged marriage. During the marriage a groom has to pay the brides family in gold and cash in return for brides beauty. This is also to appreciate the parents for having brought up their daughter. This is called Sunauli-Rupauli tradition. This tradition, started as a gesture to give security to the bride, has now turned into and exploitative tool. After the marriage, if the girl leaves her husband, the girls family has to compensate the groom by paying double the amount they received from the groom. This is called Jaari Time . If the girl elopes with another man, and the new husband couldnt pay the compensation, the first husband has the right to hack the new husband. This is called Jaar Katney . The law prohibits this tradition, but is still being carried on within the community. Project Description Numafung is a story of a young girl who is exploited time and again in the name of culture and tradition, and who eventually stands up against the system. This film is about the kind of social system that facilitates exploitation. It shows how some people decide to stand up against the society and its system. This film is first of its kind about Limbu people living in the beautiful hills of Nepal. Synopsis Its dusk and some people have arrived from the other village to ask for Numagungs hand in marriage. The villagers start to gather for the occasion. Numafungs parents discuss and ask for some gold and 20,000 rupees for their daughter, as is the tradition. The groom party, however, doesnt have that amount, and they try to bargain down a bit. Numafungs father is adamant. Ojahang (groom) goes back to his village to get more gold and money to fulfill the demand of Numafungs father. Numafung in the meantime refuses to marry, but no one listens to her and she is sent off forcefully into the marriage. Once settled, Numafung gradually starts to love her husband, and gets pregnant. Her younger sister comes to visit her and talks about taking her home during her pregnancy. Her husband and in-laws refuse to let her go, and tell Numafungs sister that she could go home during Dasain. Numafung goes to her parents with her husband to get Tika during Dasain. Ojanhang faints while receiving Tika. The local healer cures Ojahang, and the young couple return to their village. After sometime Ojahang dies, and to add more sorrow to Numafungs already shattered life, her unborn child dies when she falls while fetching water. Her parents take Numafung home. At her parents home, Numafung doesnt really get out of the depression. To please her, her friends take her to the local fair (Mela). There she meets Rikute (soldier) on holiday. The lighthearted Rikute teases Numafung and jokingly proposes her to marry him. Numafung also takes him just as a joke. At home, Girihang has come to propose to Numafung. Girihang doesnt care about Numafung being a widow. Numafungs father again asks for some gold and 20,000 rupees for his daughter. Girihang pays up ad marries Numafung. After the marriage, Numafung realizes that Girihang is not the kind she could live with. He is violent and fights with everybody. Numafung couldnt live with him anymore, and leaves him. The rumor spreads all over the village about Numafung having eloped with Rikute. Girijang sends people to look for Rikute and Numafung. They dont find them. Girihang goes to Numafungs parents to ask for the compensation. As per the tradition, Numafungs parents now have to compessate by oaying double th amount they received. As they are not in a position to pay such an amount, they are compelled to sell their house and land to pay the compensation, and leave the village. Epilogue In the Nepalese film industry there is the domination of the commercial cinema because of which filmmaking has become formula driven. Therefore there is a very little scope for making socially realistic and artistic films. In spite of such market driven environment, there has been some arbitrary attempts at making good films. However without any governmental and non-governmental support, the future of these films are very unpredictable. Nepal has more than 70 ethnic communities, but the commercial Nepalese films never reflect the culture and tradition of these various ethnic communities being in minority. It is, therefore necessary to encourage making of films, which help in portraying and protecting the culture of the various ethnic communities. source: suskera, Dec, 2002 |
| vivid | Posted
on 09-May-03 09:34 AM
 A glimpse of Numafung. |
| thaag | Posted
on 09-May-03 10:02 AM
Thank you vivid for the info Numafung looks beautiful |
| suskera | Posted
on 09-May-03 11:02 AM
Namaste all, We would like you all to know that the details regarding the screenings of the movie NUMAFUNG in different cities have not been finalised yet. The above schedule is just a tentative schedule drawn by the organisers and was not supposed to be made public yet. Once everything is finalised, the information will be posted at www.suskera.com Thanks :-) - Suskera |
| redneck | Posted
on 09-May-03 11:34 AM
In Limbu bhasha "Numafung" means beautiful flower. Every person who has seen it tells me it is one of the best Nepali films ever. It's in Nepali w/ English subtitles correct? God damn - can't wait fo the movie to come to Chicago. |
| khimu | Posted
on 09-May-03 11:43 AM
love to see nepali film with english subtitle NJ/Ny tira lagchha ki lagdaina ta aso khabar diye hunchha ni! |
| redneck | Posted
on 09-May-03 02:19 PM
khimu lawt i heard Shusma Joshi was organizing a show in NY or maybe even you can do it. If interested contact www.suskera.com |
| ashu | Posted
on 09-May-03 06:38 PM
Suskera wrote: >>>>>We would like you all to know that the details regarding the screenings of the movie NUMAFUNG in different cities have not been finalised yet. The above schedule is just a tentative schedule drawn by the organisers and was not supposed to be made public yet. Suskera >>>> I think I should clarify that I posted what I posted with Nabin's permission. Long-time Sajha readers know that I do NOT post other people's RELEVANT emails and news and conversations WITHOUT their express permission. If some of the venues are yet to be finalized, that's fine. A new, revised list can always be posted later too. Meantime, from a purely show-biz point of view, an early publicity in America through this site which aims "to being Nepali communities together" will ONLY help Nabin and Numafung all the more to attract more viewers. ******* Once everything is finalised, the information will be posted at www.suskera.com Thanks :-) - ***** Why only post only it at suskera? Post it on sajha and many other Web sites such as sebsonline, nepalhorizons too. I say that because idea is NOT to earn exclusive 'ownership', as it were, of this news, but to SPREAD it as widely as possibly so as to assist Nabin and his film. The sooner we all learn to play up our strengths infront of VARIOUS Nepali and non-Nepali audences, the better we can COMPLEMENT one another's efforts to help film-makers like Nabin and many others. oohi ashu ktm,nepal |
| suskera | Posted
on 09-May-03 10:02 PM
Our intention was/is not to have "exclusive" ownership. Because some shows have not been confirmed we figured it was premature to mention the venue (and the ph numbers of the organizers, who might not be the actual contact person, but thanks for publishing that anyway, without their consent). We are not going to "exclusively" post only on suskera, but wrote that posting rather quickly so people would not get the wrong impression (for eg for the show in Denver, we do not even know if they support the format in that auditorium). We apologize to Mr. Ashu for not being clear on that and appreciate any help in organising this show. We are doing this purely to help filmmakers and not to take any "ownership". If anyone is interested in organizing the show in their cities please talk to the filmmakers (menchhya@mail.com.np). We will surely post the info here and in other nepali and non nepali websites. |
| ashu | Posted
on 10-May-03 07:53 AM
Suskera, With your institutional name attached to the posting here, complete with a royal "we", I feel like I am talking to some monolithic, invisibly ersatz Soviet Politburo here. Hello? Aside: This particular site has an admin, and he posts NOT in sajha's name but in his own name -- San. Likewise, do you guys have someone similiar -- so that one can attach a person or a face behind your Web site? Or is one always talking to the -- drum roll, please -- Important Institution of Suskera? Just curious. You say: "Because some shows have not been confirmed we figured it was premature to mention the venue". Look, I posted that out of loyalty to Nabin -- and NOT to you, and with Nabin's express permission. If you have a complaint, take it up with Nabin, and not with me. From the planning point of view, even if if some shows are yet to be confirmed, that's PERFECTLY fine, hoina ta ? After all, why not let the GENERAL news roll on for now, and fill in some of the PARTICULARLY missing details later? I mean, what's wrong with doing that? On a larger note, now that more people from all over the US do know about the shows, they'll probably get in touch with their local leaders and others and arrange to have or confirm to have shows in their towns. Tell me, is that NOT a good thing for the publicity of the movie? Do we have to wait until everything gets 100 per cent ready? No. I say that because you see -- and this may bug you a bit -- the whole point of using the Web to spread the information is that it puts the decision-making apparatus in the hands of those who can and want to take initiatives . . .wherever they may be, whether in Alabama or in New Mexico . . . and being a Web site yourself, you can only support such a move on my part to help a Nepali film-maker, hoi na ta? Thank you for REVISING your earlier stance re: posting the news on other sites too. Finally, you need not apologize to me. . . but I do wish that, as a Web site dedicated to the service of our Nepali sahitya-kars and kala-kars, you do not fall into the same narrow "island-like" trap that sadly afflicts many of our Kathmandu-based sahitya-kars and kala-kars . . . the ones who are so pumped up with their own goddamn self-importance that they are unable to think beyond a certain party line to INCLUDE, to PROMOTE and to EMBRACE many, many ways that can serve sahitya and kala just as well, if not better. oohi ashu ktm,nepal |
| rick_roy | Posted
on 19-May-03 03:09 AM
Hmm....it is a bigotry that some people like you just does not understand what is the underlying intention of Suskera. Rather a frequent visitor (with due respect to Sajha.com) to a site who sits and criticize on other's works... If you truely an individual of word, I think, you should get off your bottoms and do something in physicality than the blank firing or words. I feel for Suskera.com! Keep up the good work and ignore such individuals. |
| rick_roy | Posted
on 19-May-03 03:11 AM
Hmm....it is a bigotry that some people like you just does not understand what is the underlying intention of Suskera. Rather a frequent visitor (with due respect to Sajha.com) to a site who sits and criticize on other's works... If you truely an individual of word, I think, you should get off your bottoms and do something in physicality than the blank firing or words. I feel for Suskera.com! Keep up the good work and ignore such individuals. |