KATHMANDU: The 8th Nepal International Film Festival (NIFF) concluded on Monday evening, honoring winners across 17 categories. The biggest prize of the event, the Gautam Buddha Award, was claimed by ‘Shambhala’, directed by Min Bahadur Bham.

National Film Competition Winners
Best Feature Film – Aankha
Best Short Film – Sachi Rukh
Best Documentary – Devi

In the feature film category, Dinesh Raut was named Best Director for Pujar Sarki. Anjana Barailee won Best Actress, while R.K. Mehta won Best Actor for Aankha. Rajesh Shrestha was awarded Best Cinematography for Pujar Sarki, and John Yonjan won Best Screenplay for Aankha.
Among the international winners, the Indian film ‘Rukmani’ won the Don Quixote Award, while the Manjushree Award (AI Film Award) went to the Argentinian film ‘The Abyss’.

Other Key Awards
Best Short Film Director – Nishan Khatri for ‘A Witness’
Mount Everest Award – Melting Snow (Belgium)
Bagmati Award – Lucia G Romero (Spain)

In the Audience Choice category, Laxman Subedi’s ‘Satidevi’ won Best Narrative Feature. Meanwhile, Love Pakurel’s ‘Girls Rewriting Destiny’ was named Best Documentary, and Sachi Rukh took home Best Short Film.

The festival ran from March 20–24 (Chaitra 7–11) in Kathmandu, showcasing 87 films from 40 countries. The closing ceremony featured Nepal’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Prithvi Subba Gurung, as the chief guest.