Finally, after a decade, filmmaker Anil Budha Magar attained his dream to bag the most coveted award at Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival (KIMFF) on December 12. His documentary Aagney (The Gold Digger) was awarded Best Documentary in the Nepal Panorama Category.
When he was receiving the award, the one person that came to his mind was his 63-year-old father, Tejendra Bahadur Budha, who currently lives in Takasera, Rukum, western side of Nepal.
In 2017, when Anil Budha Magar’s film Lomba was selected for the 15th edition of KIMFF and newspaper covered the news and his father travelled two hours to Rukkum’s headquarters to buy that newspaper. This time it was more than a selection, so he says, “I wonder how my father would feel about my achievement this time.”
Being a filmmaker
Filmmaker has not been an easy journey for him. To follow his dreams he had to go through a lot including going against his parents. Magar also recalls the humiliation from his relatives when he picked up filmmaking as his career.
“This achievement has retaliated against all those humiliations,” says Magar.
Magar’s father always wanted him to join the British Army. To make him happy, he even joined the training centre. However, at the end of the training session and during the time of selection, he ran. Why? He had dreams of his own. Dreams to make films and make a name for himself. But this decision broke his father’s heart.
“He didn’t speak to me for a year,” he says.
After he ran away from the British Army selection, his family wanted to send him to the US, but on one condition – he had to quit his filmmaking dream. He agreed. But the journey to the US wasn’t going to be as straightforward as he had to get to the US illegally via Mexico.
He left Nepal and soon his US dreams were shattered when he got caught and landed up in a Thai prison for a week before being deported back to Nepal.
After his arrival in Nepal, he again joined the movie sector and released his movie Lomba in 2017, which was already filmed before going to Thailand. This movie got recognised by a few film festivals such as KIMFF, Pokhara International Mountain Film Festival (PIMFF) 2017 and Nepal America International Film Festival (NAIFF) 2018.
The kind of progress he was making from Lomba did not last for long. His plans for other films did not work well. It frustrated him and in 2019 he left the movie sector and started a cafe at Jawalakhel, Lalitpur with his wife. At this moment in life, he had thought he would never work again in the movies.
Overcoming his frustration
Anil began spending his entire days in the cafe but it was not making him happy. I began questioning myself, what am I doing, recalls Thapa.
One day, he got a call from Jelbang Sewa Samaj, a social organisation at Jelbang, Rukum, asking him if he could direct a documentary on the iron mine of Jelbang. He accepted the deal, went to Jelbang and found 87-year-old Raja Bahadur Magar, the main character of Aagney (The Gold Digger).
It was difficult for Anil Budha Magar to direct the documentary, making an octogenarian a protagonist. In the beginning, Raja Bahadur did not feel comfortable on camera. He could not say anything properly to the camera.
Later to make him comfortable in the camera, Anil started spending his entire day with him. He began walking, staying and eating with him. As a result, Raja Bahadur became more friendly with Anil. He started understanding what they were trying to do. This changed his attitude towards presenting himself in front of the camera.
His movie
The documentary Aagney (The Gold Digger) showcases the impact on the lives of the villages after the closure of iron mines by the government of Nepal and the movie was completed in 2021. However, Anil was not satisfied with its presentation. And he still considers it a mediocre documentary.
Despite his dissatisfaction, the pressure from producers compelled him to complete the post-production of the documentary as they wanted to participate in various film festivals. And to his surprise, the documentary got selected for Film Southasia 2022. “I can’t describe that moment in words,” says Anil.
Besides getting selected for film festivals and winning awards, Anil hopes that his documentary has also brought up an issue of Rukum that has never been of concern to filmmakers.
Rukum, especially in movies, is always shown as a central place of the Maoist insurgency period. To this, he finds it unfair being a native of Rukum. One major thing that propelled Anil to become a filmmaker is his thirst for bringing out the beauty and less explored sides of Rukum.
“Rukum is full of beautiful things, but they have never been explored by filmmakers. It is vibrant culturally and traditionally,” says Anil.
He says that the people there are extraordinarily dedicated to preserving their culture. Anil urges the filmmakers and writers to explore this side of Rukum as well. Currently, Anil is working on his father’s story. He says, “My father’s story is special and it is not only because it’s my father’s story but it is a story directly connected to Rukum’s beauty.” And he says he doesn’t want to reveal more about it, yet it has importance to the whole nation.
“Unless I will bring out the beauties and secluded side of Rukum in my work, I will not consider myself a successful filmmaker,” says Anil.
The post Anil Budha Magar and his dream to explore Rukum through art of filmmaking appeared first on OnlineKhabar English News.
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