Manakamana

Caught in the usual and foreign experience of being in a state-of-the-art cable-car travelling through the Trisuli valleys, the reactions of Nepali locals riding the contraption are recorded in this avant-garde, observational documentary.

“In a series of fixed-camera shots, Manakamana offers eleven intimate portraits of assorted cable-car commuters — whose charmingly awkward and poignant encounters further enliven the breathtaking airborne journey. Though the film's concept is appealingly simple, the effect is evocatively rich — both in the awesome grandeur of nature as seen through the car windows, and in the contradictions of contemporary Nepalese life propelled by modernization. A palpable sense of melancholia emerges as ancient traditions and cultural memory teeter on the verge of vanishing.” (Toronto International Film Festival)

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