KATHMANDU:- Kathmandu Metropolitan City Acting Mayor Sunita Dangol has said that Nepal’s presence at this year’s Cannes Film Festival has reached a level that Nepalis can be proud of.

Speaking to media persons at Tribhuvan International Airport today after returning home after participating in the festival, he said that the Nepali film ‘Elephant in the Fog (Tiniharu)’ directed by Avinash Bikram Shah won the ‘Jury Prize’ in the Uncertain Regards category at the festival, which has further elevated the stature of the Nepali film and creative industry and arts sector.

Regarding the relationship at the festival, he said, “It is a pleasure for all of us to bring the subject of the film festival organized by the KMC to the international stage through the Cannes Festival, and to introduce the subject of mutual relations, learning and exchange of technical capabilities among the cities of the film genre. We want to bring about balanced development of the creative industry-related sector through the use of international-level knowledge, skills and experience and through the film festival.”

Dangol, who left for France last Sunday at the invitation of David Lisnard, the mayor of Cannes, France, has invited Lisnard to participate in the Kathmandu Film Festival.

The festival included an observation of technology and technical venues related to film production, and mutual learning, experiences, and exchanges of experiences with city leaders and creative industry officials on these topics.

Discussions were held on the possibilities of developing songs, music, literature, fashion, food, art, style and crafts from films into creative industries. The meeting and discussions covered topics ranging from connecting local communities to international films in the creative industry, education and academic sectors, participation of professionals, and mutual skill benefits.

Both Cannes and Kathmandu are member cities of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)’s ‘Creative Cities’ film category.