Pooja, Sir 

Pooja, Sir 

Deepak Rauniyar, Nepal, USA, Norway, 2024, 118’

This gripping crime thriller follows DI Pooja as she investigates the kidnapping of two boys along Nepal’s troubled border to India. 

When two boys are kidnapped in a border town in Nepal, Detective Inspector Pooja is sent from Kathmandu to solve the case. But when she arrives, the brewing political unrest and violent protests throw her off course, and she is forced to seek help from Mamata, a local Madhesi policewoman. By putting aside systemic discrimination and pushing through everyday misogyny, the women solve the case – but at what personal cost? Inspired by real events which took place in Southern Nepal during the 2015 race protests.  

“I treat my films as a kind of documentary, striving to capture the authenticity of the story I’m telling and to portray real characters in real situations. Although I start with a formal script, I do not strictly adhere to it but instead improvise with actors to find the truth. Dialogue is reworked through discussion with actors and rehearsals to ensure that both non-actors and actors speak as authentically as possible.” – Deepak Rauniyar 

 Deepak Rauniyar’s first feature film, Highway (2012), was the first film from Nepal to screen at a major global film festival, premiering at Berlinale and later playing at Locarno. His second feature, White Sun (2016), debuted at the Venice Orizzonti competition with rave reviews. The film screened internationally at over 100 film festivals, including Toronto, Locarno, Rotterdam. Nepal nominated it for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards.