For the first time in Nepali cinema: a movie made in ‘video game’ style

KATHMANDU: We have experienced many a number of video games where the characters move back and forth in the first person (or say, what our eyes witness) and third person (or say, what/who is in front of you).

This style has been popular in video games since the 90s. Enter a Nepali movie: “Basenji”; which is going to be screened on Oct 13, and it will be seen a unique experience – where the narrative follows the camera angle only seen in video games.

“Basenji” is a horror film directed by American citizen Ian Scott Clement and produced by Suraj Mainali from Gourishankar Entertainment. The movie “Basenji” is shown through the eyes of the character “Prabesh” and sometimes shown as though we are seeing him exactly in front of us. This character has come to Kathmandu from Western Nepal, after his father was fired for doing investigative journalism on agriculture

In a series of events, he meets Akash who advises him to go to a village near Kathmandu to calm his anxiety down. And then begins a series of terrifying, hair-raising events. This is the main theme of the movie “Basenji”. And the film is made with the first person through the eyes of “Prabseh” character and the third person camera to see him an independent viewer of the film.

Scott Clement, who previously directed the Nepali film “Mango Pickle”, is an aspiring filmmaker who is influenced by the Nepali environment and Nepali life and directs films in Nepal. After the movie “Aapko Achar” (Mango Pickle) which was produced in collaboration with his friends, Suraj Mainali and Gourav Basnet, Clement co-wrote this movie, which has been produced under Mainali’s banner: Gaurishankar Entertainment. In this movie, actor Asim Niraula is attached to play the role of Pravesh and Supreme Rai is playing the role of Akash. Senior actors Mithila Sharma and Sarita Giri also play prominent roles.

Director Clement says, “This is an experiment that has not been done in Nepali movies so far. We created a special headgear to hold the camera for the first person point of view, to show the world from the character’s perspective. In the same way, we have used a gimbal to show the point of view of the third person, so that you can see the character closely or observe his behavior. I fully believe that we have succeeded in bringing something new to the Nepali audience.

“Basenji” is being showcased all over Nepal from 13 Oct 2023.