For our third screening we visited Khagendra,  a home for disabled children and adults.  It felt really special putting on a screening for them all, especially as they don’t get much in the way of facilities and activities.

They were all very excited to have us visit and there were lots of smiles and laughter.  Some are able to move about themselves, whilst others have to be moved around in their chairs or on trolley beds, but the centre is very understaffed so they’re very limited to what they can do and where they can go.

We screened a number of shorts varying from Tom and Jerry to some more magical abstract animations.  I’d visited the home twice before and had filmed lots of the residents, we screened a seven minute film of them which got some good laughs and we hope made them feel special.

For the main feature the crew played Jungle Book again.  It felt like the perfect film for all ages and the mix of abilities.  Along with the people who live at Khangendra we were also joined by lots of other westerners who volunteer at and support the home.  They all really love our project and think it’s a wonderful idea, and you can see from the photos the kids are engrossed in the films.

The Tihar festival continues, and lots of kids are roaming around the streets in groups singing at houses or shops in return for money.  It’s a bit like a cross between Christmas carols and halloween!  Today is the final day of Tihar and it’s Bhai Tikar, where sisters bless their brothers. They’ll often travel long distances to be with family, although the fuel crisis is limiting that at the moment.  Sisters will put seven multi coloured marks on their brothers heads and give them gifts, and then the brothers do the same to the sisters.  This festival strengthens the close relationship between brothers and sisters.  Below is a photo of the powder that makes the tikar.

So Tihar Festival has started here.  It runs for five days and is comparable to Christmas in importance for Nepali’s.  Yesterday was the dog day!  Dogs get a puja on their heads, flower garlands around their necks (see pic below) and get treats all day.  Today is Lakshmi Puja, and Lakshmi is the Hindu goddess of wealth, fortune, and prosperity (both material and spiritual.)  People bless things like their wallets and safe’s, and hope some more money might come their way.

We had a wonderful screening in Chuchepati camp last night, where displaced people are still living six months after the earthquake.  Up (dubbed into Hindi) was our main feature and they really enjoyed it, there are lots of dogs in the animation which fitted nicely with Dog Puja day.

We’d got the kids to film each other before the screening on a small flip cameras, so projected some of that before hand, along with some beautiful shorts and some drone footage I took of the camp from the air.  As you can imagine the kids were pretty excited to see a small quadcopter flying over the camp, and then spotting their tents and tent school from the aerial footage.  The people in the camp were so helpful in putting up and taking down the cinema, and are very keen for us to return as soon as possible!

The camp is situated right next to the luxury Hyatt Hotel and the Bhat-Bhateni Super Mall which contrasts hugely with the camp dwellers situation.  We were made to feel very welcome and safe by the friendly people at the camp.  (Spot Pam who’s helping and working with us enjoying Up with the local kids below!)

The generator problem from the first day is solved.  I went back to the Yamaha store and it was a loose connection inside.  We’ve been advised that the generator will just need to be serviced earlier and more often due to the mixing of petrol with turps (black market problems!)

Happy Tihar to you all! xxx

We had our first public screening in Nepal tonight and happy to say it went down well.  We screened in an area called Naya Bazaar which is fairly central in Kathmandu.  The kids were loving the open mic session and impressed us with their beat boxing, rapping and songs.  We screened on a dusty open field that’s used by locals for football, cricket, volley ball, hanging out and setting off fire crackers tonight!

We played about 30 minutes of shorts, and then Jungle Book (in Hindi) which were all well received.  Only problem we had was the generator cutting out a few times.  There’s a good chance that was to do with the quality of the fuel we had to buy on the black market (due to the fuel crisis), which could be mixed down with anything.

Great to be up and running again and creating good vibes.  One highlight of the night was an old man bringing us a bunch of flowers to say thanks, another was standing behind the screen and watching the kids faces.

Thanks to everyone who’s supported, helped, organised, and been involved in getting this off the ground again.  First of many over and looking forward to many more.