By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, June 25: The ‘12th Nepal-Africa Film Festival 2024’, concluded on Sunday. 

In the three-day festival,  ‘Gurkha Warrior’  was awarded the Best Film Award. 

 The festival showcased 28 films, featuring 20 from Nepal and eight from various African countries. 

Awards were presented to outstanding films and artists in the presence of Defense Minister Hari Prasad Upreti. 

The South Africa/Mozambique/Zimbabwe production 'Fools', directed by Ramdan Suleiman, clinched the Best African Feature Film Award. 

The Tanzanian-Turkey documentary ‘White Poison’ was honoured as the Best African Documentary while the Cameroonian short film ‘Survivor’ was recognised as the Best Short Film.

In the Nepali category, ‘Gurkha Warrior’ was hailed as Best Feature Film, with Milan Chams winning Best Director and Ritesh Chams being awarded Best Actor. 

Sarita Lamichhane received Best Actress for ‘Sorry Mom’, and Prabhat Pal Thakuri was given the Actor Jury Award for the same film.

For documentaries, Bhima Mainali won the Best Director Award for ‘Kancho Bayu’, and Rajan Kharel was awarded the Best Cinematographer Award for ‘Journey to Gokyo’.

 ‘Lojima’ received the accolade for Best Indigenous Film, with Bimala Limbu securing the Best Actress Award and Rudra Pahim was awarded the  Supporting Actor Award for the same film.

 Dhiren Shakya was named as the Best Indigenous Actor for ‘Sanakhat’, and ‘Reet’ received the Jury Award while  Dinesh Lingden was recognised as the Best Director under the indigenous genera. 

In the Short Film category, Purushottam Basnet won the Best Short Film and Best Musical Short Film for ‘Ghatero’.

Defense Minister Upreti reaffirmed his commitment to supporting the festival, emphasising its role in bridging Nepali and African cultures through cinema.