Shooting finishes on first gay Nepalese film Snow Flowers, dubbed “Brokeback Everest”
Filming has finished on what its actors have called the first serious gay film to be made in Nepal, AFP reports.
Nisha Adhikari, who plays one of the film’s two central lesbian characters, said: “It’s two individuals falling in love and facing all the controversy and restrictions, and mental, emotional and physical traumas of being a lesbian in Nepal.
“It’s a simple love story with a lot of complications”.
She continued: “The entire movie is based on the trauma — what it is like not being able to come out and live your life because there are so many restrictions.
“There is no liberty in not living your life the way you want, irrespective of who you are attracted to sexually. This movie will be an eye-opener for a lot of people who have just viewed these issues very superficially.”
Sunil Pant, the only openly gay MP in Nepal, said: “Nepal has always been tolerant and we are now really ready to treat each other equally.
“It’s also about freedom of expression and our right to be able to watch films about our lives and issues. I am excited and can’t wait to see the film released in Nepal.”
Mr Pant was instrumental in helping to organise two high-profile gay wedding ceremonies in Nepal involving couples from the UK and the US, though same-sex marriage is not yet enshrined in law.
Following the end of monarchical rule in 2007, many LGBT rights were enshrined, and a new constitution is expected to make provisions for gay marriages. Religious gay ceremonies are reported to be widely accepted in Nepalese society.
Last year, Nepal’s census included a ‘third gender’ for the first time.
Snow Flowers, which was filmed in Kathmandu and Pokhara City and dubbed “Brokeback Everest” in a nod to Ang Lee’s film Brokeback Mountain, will be released in the spring.
