SATV, Kathmandu, Aug. 13 - Director and journalist Ganesh Pandey’s documentary film The Everest Dream has won the Best Documentary Film Award at the Cobb International Film Festival in Georgia, USA.

The festival was held in Marietta from August 6 to 9. The documentary tells the extraordinary story of British people who survived brain injuries and travelled to Nepal with a dream of reaching Everest Base Camp. It shows how people struggling with life after serious brain injuries refused to give up and worked to achieve new dreams.

A seven-member team, including five brain-injury survivors and their family members, reached Everest Base Camp under the leadership of James Lamb of the Little Sherpa Foundation. Pandey spent around one and a half years documenting their remarkable journey.

The award adds another major achievement to Pandey’s international documentary career. His documentary Bhagyale Bachekaharu won the Best Documentary Film Award at the same festival in 2017.

His other documentary, Co-Husband, which focuses on the practice of polyandry, also won the Best Documentary Film Award there in 2022.

Bhagyale Bachekaharu won more than 17 international awards and was screened in over 32 countries. Similarly, Co-Husband won more than a dozen Best Documentary Film awards and was selected for more than 40 international film festivals.

Associate producer Sharada Gaire, cinematographers Suresh Shrestha and Niraj Panthi, editor Ishwar Koirala, musicians Jugal Dangol and Sandeep Sardar, and narrator Kaushal Ghimire contributed to The Everest Dream.

Pandey said the film is preparing to participate in several prestigious international film festivals around the world.

“This award is not only a personal achievement for me but also a recognition of the efforts of our entire team and the struggles of the people featured in the film,”  said Pandey.