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The birth of Shakti PIctures

Shakti Pictures is a visual arts film company. Shakti means divine, creative power, often associated with female energy.

Shakti Pictures was formed in October 2010 in order to produce our inaugural project, Daughters of the Curved Moon (working title), a documentary set in the Himalayas of western Nepal. The film is about a community in Jumla; a portrait of a lifestyle and culture. We are looking at women's changing role in society in rural Nepal. The inspiration came from a group of village women who attended a training programme run by a local charity, Empowering Women of Nepal and the subsequent affect it had on them.

In November 2011 we completed the first segment of shooting. We returned in March 2012, February 2013 and August 2013 for further shoots, tracking the passage of time, how things are changing in the lives of our friends and in the community in Jumla. This blog is the story of our ongoing progress.

Monday, October 31, 2011

Production - Nepali Style

This is it. We are about to embark on the first shoot - although we have already shot some interviews and landscape footage, or "B Roll" during our time in Pokhara, so technically, we have begun shooting.



We are in Nepalganj with our invaluable production assistant, Nisha. We have just travelled 11 hours by private jeep from Pokhara - a vehicle big enough to accommodate the three of us and a significant amount of baggage although not when you consider we are a mobile film crew.



Already, as with any production, we have had our share of mishaps, hopefully, getting them out the way early. One of our brand new 2 TB drives started sounding like an electronic percussion instrument. We were due to leave Pokhara at 6am the next morning and I wasn't sure we'd get to Nepalganj in time to buy more drives so it was a mad dash on the back of the bike with Sabeen (from my family at Bishnu Lodge, the guest house that is my home in Pokhara), to see if we could find an open computer store. Everything was shut but Sabeen, being a resourceful lad, went round the back of a shop I had spotted as we'd headed into town and luckily the shopkeeper was still there. Two new drives and a big dent out of the contingency pot. But ke garné?


We made it to Nepalganj which is on the southern Terai of west Nepal. Tomorrow morning, all being well, we are due to fly to Jumla. This really is it.