Kathmandu – The Kathmandu Film Festival 2026 films range from a Hollywood classic to short documentaries shot in the city’s own courtyards. For three days, from October 30 to November 1, the capital becomes one large cinema hall, and every screening is free.
There is one catch. Entry costs nothing, but viewers need to book a free ticket in advance to reserve a seat.
The biggest name on the screen is a familiar one. Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather will be shown on the big screen at Jai Nepal Cinema as part of the festival’s International Panorama section.
It shares the programme with newer films from across Asia, Europe and Australia. Indian director Bikas Ranjan Mishra’s Bayaan, Rima Das’s Singapore-Indian film Not a Hero and Shahrbanoo Sadat’s German-Afghan film No Good Men are among the titles. Others include the Chinese film Dear You, the Korean film The King’s Warden, the French film La Gradiva, the Australian film Mise en Place, the Australian-Mongolian film Stairs and the American documentary Enchanted Matter: The Art of Robert Powell.
The festival will close with Private Property, a Nepali-American-French-Australian co-production. A short film from Yamagata in Japan, a UNESCO Creative City of Film, will also be screened.
For many viewers, the most personal part of the programme may be closer to home. Kathmandu Metropolitan City will hold special screenings of Kumari and Ke Ghar Ke Dera, Nepali films made in the 1970s and 1980s, as part of an effort to preserve the country’s older cinema. Ke Ghar Ke Dera will be shown on the red carpet night at Rastriya Sabha Griha.
New Nepali voices get their own space too. Under Nepal Panorama Shorts, the city received 75 films through an open call and selected 10 for screening. Each selected filmmaker will receive an incentive of Rs 1 lakh. The line-up includes Sarita Shah’s Manaki, Sudarshan Yonjan’s Ashubh Ashtami, Lakpa Chhoden Lama’s Home Is Not a Place, Alin Katwal’s Sappu: A Solemn Promise and Sarjun Rai’s Marichha.
Young filmmakers under 40 also took part in a short video challenge on the theme “My Culture, My Heritage”. Out of 35 entries, 11 were selected, including Indra Jatra: The Biggest Festival of Kathmandu, The Soul of Guthi and Jhigu Chhen (My Home). The top three will win Rs 150,000, Rs 100,000 and Rs 50,000 respectively.
Beyond the screenings, international guests will share their experience. Indian actress Shabana Azmi will take part in a conversation titled “Films, Festivals and a Life Well Lived” at the Nepal Tourism Board on October 31. Film scholar Marco Müller will lead a masterclass on film aesthetics from the Global South on November 1, followed by a panel on the past, present and future of Nepal’s film industry.
The festival is part of Kathmandu’s work as a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network. Its aim is to take cinema beyond theatres and into the city’s neighbourhoods, from heritage squares to museums. For film lovers, the message is simple: book a seat early, and let Kathmandu tell its stories on screen.
Photo: Nepal on the Web
