Film details
- Director
- Akash Dhimal
- Country
- Nepal
- Duration
- 16 min
- Language
- No Dialogue
- Writer
- Akash Dhimal
- Editor
- Akash Dhimal
- Cinematographer
- Akash Dhimal
- Producer
- Akash Dhimal, Deepak Rijal, Yugal Pandey
- Cast
- Prakash Thapa, Nishan Thapa, Bijay Balal, Renuka Chaudhary, Shantaram Giri
Director’s statement
This film was born from a question that stayed with me:
What happens when a community forgets why a ritual exists, but continues to follow it?
I come from a place where death is not only an ending, but a presence. It lives on through rituals, memories, fear, and belief.
In my Nepalese culture, like ours, stories are not written; they are passed down through silence, observation, and tradition. One such belief says that the legs of the deceased should be tied, and that the body should not be set down before reaching its final ritual place. Whether this comes from folklore, faith, or fear is not what interests me. I am fascinated by how a single event can leave a lasting mark on a community, becoming a ritual whose original meaning is eventually forgotten.
The title, KNAR, refers to the scar that forms on a tree after it has been wounded. The tree continues to grow, but the mark remains. To me, this became a metaphor for how fear and memory become part of tradition.
I chose to tell this story entirely through images because rituals are learned by watching, not by explanation. The black-and-white imagery removes the story from a specific time, allowing the past and present to exist together. The mustard fields and forest become silent witnesses to life, death, and the memories carried across generations.
I did not want to explain the mystery completely.
I hope KNAR encourages audiences to reflect on the rituals they inherit and to question rituals they have accepted without memory of their origin, and to recognize how the past silently dictates the present.
This is not just a cultural story. It reflects how humans remember death, and how fear and time reshape that memory.
Synopsis
In a quiet village, the body of an elderly man, Bhimsen Chhetri, is prepared for his final rites. His legs are carefully tied, his body bound with ritual precision, and the mourners stand in silence as tradition is followed without question.
As the funeral procession begins, the film shifts decades into the past.
A younger Bhimsen helps carry the body of his friend named Balmiki along with one old man and another young man through mustard fields toward the riverside for cremation. During a brief rest, a young man and an old man went to collect the wood into the jungle leaving Bhimsen alone with the corpse. What follows is an unexplainable event.
Akash Dhimal
Director
Akash Dhimal is an independent filmmaker from Nepal with a passion for telling stories through images rather than words. His work is deeply inspired by Nepali culture, the emotional power of visual storytelling, and the quiet moments that often go unnoticed.
Over the years, he has directed several independent short films and nationally recognized documentaries, while also appearing in leading roles in narrative short films.
Alongside directing, he works as a cinematographer, editor, and photographer, believing that every frame should carry meaning and a carefully considered visual language.
He also collaborates with international brands and tourism companies as a travel filmmaker and photographer, producing cinematic films and photography that celebrate landscapes, culture, and human experiences.
KNAR, inspired by a forgotten funeral ritual from rural Nepal and his first film, was developed with an international festival audience in mind and reflects his interest in exploring memory, tradition, and the quiet fears that are passed down through generations.