Kathmandu Doc Lab 2026
Nine projects from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Pakistan spent six days in Kathmandu working with three South Asian mentors. The filmmakers pitched to a live audience and jury on 27 May, and then online to international industry representatives on 18 June.
The 2026 cohort
Nine projects
All About My Father
Golam Muntakim (director), Avik Talukdar (producer) · Bangladesh
Trying to know my father, who disappeared in 1998, when I was only two years old, through my mother’s daily life, archive, and case files.
Chahnu Wanmang (Leopard’s Dream)
Mankap Nokwoham · India
Wangtam, an ex-militant turned Tiger Protection Force guard, is attacked by a leopard while patrolling the Pakke Tiger Reserve, triggering the violent trauma of his insurgency past as he struggles to survive.
Best Pitch Award · Documentary Association of Pakistan Award
Ghosts of the Mountains
Lhakpa Choedon Lama, Sushil Sapkota · Nepal
While Nepal’s Gen-Z revolution erupts in the capital, a distant Himalayan village listens from the margins, its stories of waiting, memory, and survival revealing a microcosm of the country.
In Between Rains
Sudarshan Hake · India
After buying my migrant parents their first home after decades building homes for others, unexpected conflict emerges: my father longs for his drought-prone village, while my mother has found belonging in the city. Following them and my uncle in a changing landscape, I question whether home survives when people and places change.
Moving Mountains
Lobzang Wangtak, Akshat Jain · India
As a disappearing glacier empties their Himalayan village, Chokhla (41) fights to bring water home while his daughter Dhoton (15) decides whether the village is worth staying for.
Nepal Film Initiative Award
Search for the Karam Tree
Arifur Rahman (director), Edila Farid Turin (producer) · Bangladesh
In the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest, Vokto, a Munda indigenous man, embarks on a quest to find a lost sacred tree and revive his community’s most important puja. As the search unfolds, the boundaries between fact, myth, and imagination begin to blur.
Sound of Chewing Leaves
Suraj Bhattarai · Bhutan
Two ageing brothers remain the last ones to live freely with their cattle in an isolated forest in the Himalayan country of Bhutan. How long will they be able to withstand changes engulfing them as the final custodians of the forest?
The Emergency Exit
Mahnoor Batool, Shahnawaz Ahmed Khan · Pakistan
Hadi, a young content creator in Pakistan’s Kurram Valley, struggles to hold onto hope as his friend Mudasir plans to leave for a better life amid road closures and conflict, threatening their dream of bridging divided communities.
Spirit of Lab Award
Whisper of the Warm Spring
Samten Gurmat, Sonam Nurbu · India
Set in the snow leopard habitat of Ladakh, a young girl defies societal pressure and predators while protecting her pashmina goats. She dreams of building a sanctuary for the animals she loves.
Awards
Four awards after the live pitch
Live Pitch jury
Tin Dirdamal, filmmaker and editor, Mexico
Sunah Kim, producer, South Korea
Pranay Limbu, documentary filmmaker, Nepal
QFX Cinemas Chhaya Center, Kathmandu, 27 May 2026
Mentors
Three South Asian filmmakers in the room all week
Anam Abbas
Pakistan
Anam Abbas is an award-winning filmmaker, director of “This Stained Dawn” (Sheffield, Yamagata, 2021) and producer behind “Showgirls of Pakistan” (IDFA, 2020) and “In Flames” (Cannes, TIFF, Busan, Sitges). Anam has served on the selection jury for Berlinale Talents Doc Station and Sheffield Meet Market. She is a founding member of the Documentary Association of Pakistan, programming the Chalta Phirta Film Festival, and runs intensive Doc Labs in Pakistan.
Arun Bhattarai
Bhutan
Arun Bhattarai is a Bhutanese documentary filmmaker known for acclaimed works like “Agent of Happiness”, “The Next Guardian” and “Mountain Man”. His latest, “Agent of Happiness”, debuted at The Sundance Film Festival, where it was a grand jury prize nominee. His films have been awarded at major festivals and theatrically released around the world. Bhattarai specializes in intimate, culturally nuanced storytelling. His films have been supported by Sundance, Catapult and IDFA Bertha Fund.
Sarvnik Kaur
India
Sarvnik Kaur is an award-winning Mumbai-based documentary filmmaker and director of Against the Tide (Sundance 2023 – Special Jury Award for Verité Filmmaking) and Soz – A Ballad of Maladies (64th National Film Award, India). Her immersive, long-term observational work explores the intersection of personal lives, political realities, and ecological change. Following its Sundance premiere, Against the Tide screened and won awards internationally. Sarvnik is currently building her elemental series—from sea to land—continuing her exploration of land, identity, climate, and community through ethics-led, deeply collaborative storytelling.
The 2026 programme
Longer, deeper and better prepared
Alongside six days of group mentorship, project presentations, pitch rehearsals and evening screenings curated by the mentors, the 2026 edition added online workshops and a masterclass. The Lab opened with a day of community building outside Kathmandu, where every participant, mentor and team member read and signed the Lab’s Community Agreement and Safer Space Policy.
André Lô Sánchez (Cardumen Lab): Entering the International Industry with Your Local Perspective. Prawin Adhikari (writer and editor): three rewriting workshops on loglines, synopses and treatments. Mandakini Gahlot (Elefant Films): Beyond the Spreadsheet: Budgeting and Timelines for Global Success.
A community day outside the city, project presentations, group mentorship and a full day of pitch rehearsals, ending with the Live Pitch.
Nora Philippe and Leonard Cortana on the role of the producer, BIPOC EURODOC and impact producing.
All nine projects pitched to eight industry representatives from organisations including the IDFA Bertha Fund, Al Jazeera, DMZ Docs, The Whickers and Lightdox. The pitch led to 24 one-on-one meetings between filmmakers and industry.
Observers
Eight observers took part
The Observer track is designed for emerging storytellers who wish to learn the ropes of international co-production.
Bedhika Pudasaini (Nepal), Bishal Bisht (Nepal), Shuvangi Khadka (Nepal), Viktor Kelemen (Hungary/Nepal), Lobsang Phuntso (India), Narmeen Ijaz (Pakistan), Priyanka Verma (India), Megha Khoda (India)
Selection committee
Who chose the nine
The nine projects were selected from 53 applications by Reena Mohan, Kesang Tseten, Ramyata Limbu, Sunir Pandey and Alok Adhikari.
Industry at the 2026 pitches
Who the filmmakers pitched to and met
Supported by
Kathmandu Doc Lab 2026 was supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). Award partners: Documentary Association of Pakistan and Nepal Film Initiative.
