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As the first Nepali-language picture was released in 1951, and the first produced one in Nepal was released only in 1964, the cinema of this country is relatively young and remains rather unknown around the world. Fortunately, certain films from Nepal gain recognition at festivals, as “Shambhala”, the second feature by Min Bahadur Bham, shows. It is not only the first movie made there that was included in the main competition at the Berlin International Film Festival, but it was also chosen as the official submission of Nepal for the Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards.

Shambhala is screening at Five Flavours

The story starts when a young woman, Pema (Thinley Lhamo), prepares for marriage with three husbands, according to, as the local Rinpoche (Loten Namling) stated, the tradition and her karma. Pema’s peaceful life with the new family is disturbed when her main spouse, Tashi (Tenzing Dalha...

"I must tell Tashi the truth and bring him home." Screen Daily has revealed the festival promo trailer for a Nepalese indie drama titled Shambhala...

Little delights abound in “Shambhala,” Min Bahadur Bham’s Berlinale competition entry, in which a vibrant young Nepali woman, Pema (Thinley Lhamo), enters into a polyandrous marriage with her lover, Tashi (Tenzin Dalha), and his two younger brothers. Bham’s tale, a physical and spiritual journey, is catalyzed by Tashi’s disappearance and Pema’s subsequent search to find him. However, at two-and-a-half hours in length, the film’s meticulous unfurling ends up spread across alternating peaks and valleys of interest and emotional allure, rendering its careful compositions only semi-affecting.

Bham paints Pema’s rural Himalayan village with whimsical brush strokes, framing the rural perspectives and traditions with a sense of mischievous intimacy. Pema’s parents joke about her marrying three brothers — a nominal arrangement, since she’s in love with one of them — and they hope, against local expectations, that she’ll be treated well. However, they don’t seem to really worry,...

The main title card for Shambhala, the new drama from Nepalese director Min Bahadur Bham (The Black Hen), appears about an hour into the movie. That’s more or less the same time it takes for the story to truly come alive, in a languishing 150-minute narrative that could prove a real patience-tester for many viewers.

And yet, this exquisitely crafted second feature does provide a certain payoff for those willing to accept its leisurely, Zen-like pacing — beginning with some of the more breathtaking scenery recently captured on screen.

At once intimate and epic, and often more ethnographic than dramatic, Shambhala takes us to the Himalayas to follow a young bride, Pema (Thinely Lhamo), whose husband, Tashi (Tenzin Dalha), leaves her behind for several months and then winds up disappearing altogether. The hitch is that Tashi is actually one of three husbands in a polyandrous marriage that also includes his...

Nepali filmmaker Min Bahadur Bham’s journey to make Berlin competition title “Shambhala” was arduous but an ultimately rewarding one.

Bham’s 2012 short “Bhansulli” debuted at Venice. His debut feature “Kalo Pothi” won the Fedeora best film award at Venice Critics’ Week and became Nepal’s official Oscar entry. It has been a nine-year process to bring “Shambhala” to fruition since then.

The filmmaker says that after “Kalo Pothi,” it took him a long time to write the script of “Shambhala,” which went through 45 drafts. He also wanted to experience the global labs, markets and residencies that he hadn’t on his first feature. These included Busan’s Asian Film Market, Cannes Cinefondation Residence and Locarno’s Open Doors. When those were done, finding the right cast and locations took a while and once those were finalized, Covid-19 struck.

“Shambhala” – a mystic, sacred realm in Tibetan Buddhism, also an area of significance in Hinduism,...

Brussels-based company Best Friend Forever (“Banel & Adama”) has acquired international rights to “Shambhala,” the first Nepalese film to premiere in competition at the Berlinale or any other top film festival.

Directed by Min Bahadur Bham, “Shambhala” is also the first South Asian film to be selected in Berlinale’s competition lineup after three decades. Bham is best known for his feature debut, “Kalo Pothi,” which won a prize at Venice Critics’ Week in 2015. The helmer previously directed “Bansulli,” which was Nepal’s first selection at the Venice Film Festival in 2012.

“Shambhala” is set in a Himalayan polyandrous village in Nepal, where a newly married and pregnant woman, Pema, tries to make the best of her new life. But soon, her husband Tashi vanishes, prompting her to embark on a journey into the wilderness to find him, accompanied by her monk.

The film shot in the world’s highest settlement, located...

The Berlin Film Festival on Monday unveiled the titles selected for its official competition and its sidebar Encounters competitive section.

A total of 20 films have been selected for the international competition, with highlights including La Cocina, directed by Alonso Ruiz Palacios and starring Rooney Mara. The pic is described as a “kinetic and cinematic love story” set over a single day in a Times Square kitchen. French-Senegalese filmmaker Mati Diop returns with Dahomey, a 60-minute doc about art repatriation and Hong Sangsoo plays in competition with A Traveler’s Needs, starring Isabelle Huppert. Scroll down for the full lineup.

The Berlin Film Festival takes place February 15-25.

Organizers have already announced more than 100 titles across sidebars spanning Panorama, Forum, and Berlinale Special. Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger, a feature documentary about influential British filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger narrated by Killers of the Flower Moon...