White Sun or Seto Surya is a 2016 biographical war drama film directed by Deepak Rauniyar and co-written by Rauniyar, David Barker. It stars Dayahang Rai and Rabindra Singh Baniya in the lead roles alongside Asha Magrati, Sumi Malla, Amrit Pariyar, Deepak Chetri and Deshbhakta Khanal. The film is based on Nepalese Civil War's conflict between royalists and Maoists.
It world premiered in the Horizons section at the 73rd edition of the Venice Film Festival. It was later screened at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival. It was selected as the Nepali entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.
Plot After nearly a decade away, anti-regime partisan Chandra must travel to his remote mountain village following his father's death. Little Pooja is eagerly awaiting the man she believes to be her father, but is confused when Chandra arrives with Badri, a young street orphan rumoured to be his son. Chandra must also confront his brother Suraj, who fought on the opposing side during the Nepali Civil War. The two brothers cannot set aside their political differences while carrying their father's body down the steep mountain path to the river for cremation. Suraj storms off in a rage, leaving Chandra with no other men strong enough to help. Under pressure from the village elders, Chandra is forced to seek help from outside the village in order to adhere to the rigid caste and discriminatory gender traditions that he fought to eliminate during the war. He searches for a solution in neighbouring villages, among the police, guests at a local wedding and rebel guerrillas.
Cast Ganesh Neupane (Munal) as Kaaji Dayahang Rai as Agni / Chandra Asha Magrati as Durga Rabindra Singh Baniya as Suraj Sumi Malla as Pooja Amrit Pariyar as Badri Pramod Agrahari as Police officer Deepak Chhetri as Priest Deshbhakta Khanal as Uncle
Awards AwardsCategoryRecipient(s) Outcome Fribourg International Film FestivalAudience award Deepak Rauniyar (director)Don Quixote Award Deepak Rauniyar (director) Ecumenical Jury Award Deepak Rauniyar (director)Special Mention Deepak Rauniyar (director)Grand Prix Deepak Rauniyar (director)Golden Horse Film Festival and AwardsBest Asian FilmDeepak Rauniyar (director)Palm Springs International Film FestivalNew Voices/New Visions Grand Jury PrizeDeepak Rauniyar (director)International Film Festival RotterdamKNF Award Deepak Rauniyar (director)Singapore International Film FestivalBest FilmDeepak Rauniyar (director)Venice Film FestivalInterfilm Award Deepak Rauniyar (director)Aadi Productions (production company)Louverture Films (production company)Waterland Film (co-production)Match Factory, The (distributor) Best FilmDeepak Rauniyar (director)
See also List of submissions to the 90th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film List of Nepalese submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
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