Programs

LINK OF CINE-ASIA Project Market

Season of Dragonflies
Production Country (s) Nepal Production Company (s) Underground Talkies Nepal
Icefall Productions
Genre Drama Production Spec 4K / Color / 90min
Production Stage
(or Project Status)
Late Script Development, Early Financing Expected Date of Completion December 2022
Total Budget
(Negative Cost)
440,000 USD Confirmed Financing Total 110,000 USD
(Production house investment In-kind support (Camera Rental) CNC Open Doors Award Fees and Deferrals)
Fellow Name Anup POUDEL
Director Abinash Bikram SHAH Email of Director abinash_b_shah@yahoo.com
Profile of the Director Born in Nepal, Abinash Bikram Shah is a freelance writer/director based in Kathmandu. An Alumnus of Berlinale Talents (Germany) and Asian Film Academy (South Korea), Abinash has written, directed and produced short films that have participated and won at many International Film Festivals. He has also written few feature films that premiered in Berlin International Film Festival (2012) and Venice International Film Festival (2015), and were also Nepal’s Official Entry for Academy Awards in Best Foreign Language Film Section. Also, working as a lecturer at Oscar International College of Film Studies and Programming Director of Ekadeshma International Short Film Festival, Abinash is currently preparing for his directorial debut film Season of Dragonflies.
Producer (s) Anup POUDEL
Ram Krishna POKHAREL
Email of Producer (s) anoopmimosa@gmail.com
rkpnepal75@gmail.com
Profile of the Producer (s) Anup Poudel is a producer based in Kathmandu. He studied Film Making at the Oscar College of Film Studies in Kathmandu from 2009 to 2012. His first short film as a producer I am Happy was selected in Busan IFF 2011. Immediately after that, another short film, The Flute, was selected in Venice IFF 2012. His recent short film, The Moon Is Bright Tonight, had a world premiere at Busan IFF 2018 and is traveling the festival circuit. He has just completed another short film, Kirtimukh, and currently is developing his feature producing debut Season of Dragonflies at AFiS.

After working for nine years in the sector of Himalayan expedition, Ram Krishna Pokharel graduated from Film School as one of the first batch within Nepal. He has produced various shorts and features screened in a number of festivals. He is the first Nepali producer participating in EAVE Producer’s Workshop with scholarship received from CNC in 2017.
Logline Following a devastating earthquake, living amidst rubble in a make-do shelter, RUDRAAWATI, a feisty breast cancer survivor, is torn between using her money to rebuild her house which her family desperately needs and to reconstruct her breast to reclaim her womanhood and win her estranged husband back.
Synopsis Left homeless by the devastating earthquake in Nepal, a feisty breast cancer survivor RUDRAWATI (38) lives under a makeshift tent with her daughter HISILA (5) and her FATHER-IN-LAW (65). She spends her day working at a carpet factory and doing household chores. Her husband HIRAKAJI (32), an immigrant worker, is about to return home from abroad to rebuild their house. It makes her happy.

But her happiness comes to a halt when she learns that her husband is still in a relationship with his mistress BABITA (28), with whom he also has a son. When Hirakaji refuses to end his affair with Babita, Rudrawati thinks it's her mastectomy scars that have soured her relationship with him. Her marriage is at risk and now she is faced with a dilemma – whether to rebuild her house ravaged by an earthquake or rebuild her breast. She chooses to reclaim her womanhood to win back her estranged husband with the money he sent her.

When Hirakaji comes home earlier than expected, Rudrawati’s true intentions and plan slowly and gradually goes out of control. She is left alone and abandoned after her family finds out the truth. Rudrawati realizes what matters the most in life – herself. She is forcing her aspirations upon others and focusing on something that wasn’t worth it. Rudrawati abandons her desire to win Hirakaji back, and instead starts a new life with just her and her daughter, where Hisila can grow up to be anyone, but her mother.