Main programme  

Manakamana consists, in all its simplicity, of just eleven scenes lasting ten minutes each, which corresponds to both the length of a 16mm reel and a one-way trip on the cable car, which takes piligrims and tourists up to a temple in the mountains and back again. Infused with humor, music and reverence this is an unforgettable documentary experience. The unique structure and style of the film places the audience in a reverent, tranquil space from which to observe the most intimate and personal moments of human relationships.  

Snugly sit in a smal cabin, a group of people – a girl and an old man, three rockers, and tiny women with marks of time on their faces – are slowly rising up to the top of a breathtaking mountain. Having observed them for some time, one starts wondering what thoughts hide behind their faces. But that is what this whole long journey is aimed for – to whisper one's innermost cravings to goddess Manakanama. And then, they take the same journey backwards. How different are their faces on the way back from the temple, now marked with hope that what they crave for will come true. S. Ž.  

Awards

BAFICI Buenos Aires Indie Film Festival – Grand Prix, Vanguard and Genre Section (2014)
RivenRun International Film Festival – Best Director (2014)
Locarno International Film Festival – Golden Leopard in Filmmakers of the Present and Special Mention for Best First Feature Film (2013)

Stephanie Spray

Currently a PhD candidate and Teaching Fellow in the Sensory Ethnography Laboratory, housed in the Anthropology Department at Harvard University, Stephanie Spray is also a filmmaker, phonographer and anthropologist whose work explores and exploits the confluence of social aesthetics and art in everyday life. In 1999 she began studying music, religion and languages in Nepal, and since then has spent copious time practicing the art of “wandering” (dhulna jāne) with a community of itinerant musicians called the Gandharba.  

Pacho Velez

Pacho Velez works at the intersection of ethnography, experimental narrative, and political documentary. His films, varied in their subject matter and formal approach, share a preoccupation with creative local responses to broad changes wrought by globalization. He now lives in New York City. He teaches filmmaking at Bard College and design ethnography at Parsons The New School For Design, and is an affiliate of the Sensory Ethnography Lab at Harvard University.