Events

Manakamana, a film by Stephanie Spray and Pacho Velez.

Manakamana is a documentary shot entirely inside the bubble of a cable car, high above a jungle in Nepal, as it transports pilgrims to the mountaintop temple of the goddess Manakamana. Shot in 16mm, the film is a tender, ephemeral character study of its passengers and a window onto the lush, rolling landscape of a country in transition from ancient tradition to modernity.

Garden Theatre, Thursday, October 1, 7:00pm

Free and open to the Public. This event is currently sold out, however you can place your name on a wait list here.

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Pacho Velez and film scholar Chi-hui Yang:

PACHO VELEZ is a newly appointed Fellow in the Lewis Center for the Arts. He works at the intersection of ethnography, political documentary, and contemporary art. In 2013, he won the Cineasti del Presente competition at the Locarno Film Festival. His films have screened at the New York Film Festival, The Toronto Film Festival, and the Whitney Biennial. He has been nominated for an Independent Spirit Award and a Gotham Award, and has received funding from the Sundance Institute, the Tribecca Film Institute, and the Cable News Network (CNN). Velez holds a MFA from the California Institute for the Arts and has taught film production at Bard College, The New School, and Harvard University. He lives in Brooklyn.

CHI-HUI YANG is Program Officer for Ford Foundation’s JustFilms initiative, a global effort that supports emerging and established filmmakers whose work addresses the most urgent social issues of our time. Yang has worked extensively as a film programmer and educator. He is the former director of the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival and co-curator of MoMA’s Documentary Fortnight. Yang has taught in the Columbia University School of Journalism and the New School. He lives in New York City.

Stills from the film:

Trailer

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