KATHMANDU, May 23: Nepali filmmaker Avinash Bikram Shah’s “Elephants in the Fog” has marked a historic moment for Nepali cinema by winning the Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival, one of the festival’s most closely watched platforms for emerging and innovative global filmmaking.
The award was announced during the closing ceremony of the section, which runs alongside the main competition at Cannes and is officially recognized by the festival as a space dedicated to distinctive storytelling and new cinematic voices. Within the Cannes structure, Un Certain Regard is regarded as the second most prominent competitive section after the race for the Palme d’Or, and its awards often highlight films that push artistic and thematic boundaries.
Deepika Padukone attends jury dinner at Cannes 2022
This year, the section’s top honor, the Un Certain Regard Award, went to Sandra Wollner’s “Everytime.” The Jury Prize, a major secondary distinction within the category, was awarded to the Nepali entry “Elephants in the Fog,” making it the first Nepali film to achieve this recognition in the section’s history.
The film’s win immediately resonated as a landmark achievement for Nepal’s presence on the global festival stage. As the announcement echoed through the Cannes venue, the film’s team responded with visible emotion, celebrating on stage and sharing a moment of collective joy. Actress Pushpa Lama marked the occasion by draping the Nepali flag over director Shah, underscoring the national significance of the recognition.
In his remarks following the win, Shah credited his team and reflected on the broader meaning of the achievement. He described cinema as a medium capable of revealing what often remains unseen, suggesting that the journey of their film to Cannes itself represented the transformation of “invisible” stories into something visible and acknowledged on an international platform.
“Elephants in the Fog” tells the story of a family living in a village repeatedly affected by elephant attacks. At its center is the relationship between a mother and daughter, unfolding within a setting shaped by both environmental struggle and personal resilience. The film also engages with the lived realities of sexual and gender minority communities, both in its narrative perspective and through its casting choices, which include actors from those communities.
Alongside the main awards, the Un Certain Regard section also presented additional honors. The Special Jury Prize was awarded to “Iron Boy,” while “Congo Boy” received the Best Actor award, and “Siempre So Tu Animal Materno” earned the Best Actress distinction. In total, 19 films were selected for the section this year, including several debut works from first-time directors, continuing Cannes’ tradition of spotlighting new voices in world cinema.
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