Something Like a Film Festival (SLFF) is a four day festival in Kathmandu that cherishes uncompromising spirit of filmmakers seen through independent, debutante and young student films. First presented in 2010, the festival has pioneered supporting talents in South Asia, with integration of Clinik.Kathmandu Script Lab, Short Film Factory Fund, and the Young Asian Film Market into the festival’s program at different occasions.
The 2026 festival will bring 30 – 50 short films that embody the spirit of evolving cinematic form of Asian cinema. SLFF showcases fiction, video arts and documentaries. All films shown are under 30 mins with a minimum runtime of 5 minutes. Submission to the festival is free.
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DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL PROGRAM 2026
Festival Recognition
SLFF is a non competitive film festival. Starting 2026, two awards have been announced to support recognition of young artists. Awards carry no monetary value
– Freedom Filmmaker Recognition
– Audience Choice
– Best Student Film
The Freedom Filmmaker recognition provided first in 2018 recognizes the commitment by artists to make cinema regardless of the hostilities they encounter. It is provided to filmmakers and cinema culture workers.
Festival Program (2023)
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Gaighat Zumba
Bhagirathi Pandit, Bomjar Boje| Nepal| 6: 57 Min| 26 june, 3 PM| An informal gathering of women in Gaighat Bazaar over morning Zumba presents a unique bond breaking away from pre-established notions of women in public spaces. Read more
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Parajanov, Cinema without Film
Ivan Baturin|Russia|10 min| 29 june, 3 PM He is a disgraced director and a beauty speculator. After a labor camp, Sergei Paradjanov, who was excommunicated from the world of cinema, creates masterpieces out of nothing: he sells myths on the streets of Tbilisi, turns Georgian commemorations into a theater, and his garden into a garden… Read more
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Avaar Navaar Chhoriyaan/ Every Now and Then Girls…
Shefalee Jain and Shivi Bhatnagar| India|20: 52 min| 29 june, 1 PM| Avaar Navaar Chhoriyaan (Every Now and Then Girls…), our stop motion animation film, is an adaptation of the Rajasthani folktale ‘Dohri Joon’. This folktale has been collected by the well-known researcher, author-folklorist of Rajasthan (India), Vijaydan Detha, in his ‘Baataan ri Phulwari’. Read more
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Beautiful Excuse for a Deadly Sin
Hashim Sharaf|Bahrain|16 min| 29 june, 3 PM| In the heart the city of Manama at a modest residential building, Qassem, a reckless young man, enters the building with a horse and tries to climb him up to his apartment through the stairs. Read more
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documentation of a dream
Akshai N. Jose|India |19:20min| 29 june, 1 PM| “Documentation of a Dream” is a short film where three friends, including Niranjan, gather to create a story inspired by his life. Read more
Something like a Film Festiva 
