Red Nepal

Himalaya, Where the Wind Dwells is a 2009 Korean film, a considerable part of which has been filmed in Nepal. The film was released in June of 2009 and is available in Korean, English and Nepali languages.

Synopsis: A Nepali worker ‘Dorje’ who works illegally in a Korean company gets killed in an accident in South Korea. A businessman Choi (Choi Min-sik), the brother of the company’s owner, is going through a lot of problems- middle agedness and loneliness. He decides to set off to take the ashes of the man to his family in Nepal in order to escape from his life, albeit for a while. However, he is ill-prepared for the long trek up to village Shirkot (Mugu), in the Himalayas and the accompanying altitude sickness. As Choi sees Nepal, he soon gets lost in the beauty of the Himalayas and the wind. He befriends Dorje’s son, plays, tends the family’s sheep with him, but is not courageous enough to tell the news of the death to the man’s wife and the family. He tells them that he is here for a vacation. The hospitality of the family melts Choi and he comes to have a fascination towards Dorje’s wife. Soon, they find it out and Choi returns to Korea.

With panoramic scenes of the Himalayas, the Korean film made by director Soo-il Jeon is doing a good business in Seoul. Beautifully cinematographed Himalayas and the shots of rural Nepal have served in the success of movies like Everest (1998), Caravan (1999) and Kagbeni (2008). This movie is no different. Director and screenwriter Jeon and his cinematographer have captured natural scenes and the grandeur of the Nepali beauty along with the melody of the wind.

The movie premiered last fall at the 12th Pusan (Busan) International Film Festival in South Korea and is slated to compete at the 44th Karlovivary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic in July this year.



Nepal’s film industry has just started to leave the traditional storylines, which are genuinely “inspired” from the Bollywood movies. In spite of the foreign competition and lack of big audience, films like Basanti and Prem Pinda have emerged spectacularly. Caravan, also known as Himalaya, was nominated for the best foreign film category in Academy Awards in 2000. Mukundo, Muna Madan and Basain were submitted in the same category in 2001, 2004 and 2007.

Meanwhile, foreign films like Everest, an IMAX documentary on the struggles in climbing Mt. Everest, and The Little Buddha are some of the remarkable films filmed in Nepal. Some other outstanding Nepali films that have gained some international fame are The Spirit Doesn't Come Anymore by Tsering Rhitar Sherpa, Navin Subba's Numafung and Kesang Tseten's We Homes Chaps.