DEVI

Subina Shrestha, Nepal / South Korea / United Kingdom, 2024, 83 min., documentary, Nepali with English subtitles

The civil war in Nepal ended in 2006 – but for Devi, a former rebel fighter, mother, and survivor of sexual violence, it never really ended. Almost 20 years later, she is still fighting for recognition for what was done to her and many other women during the war. Although the peace negotiations promised reconciliation and reappraisal, all measures taken so far have been aimed almost exclusively at men. Some perpetrators are now part of the government, and reliable figures on gender-based violence are still lacking. Marked by her own trauma and the silence of those in power, Devi finds new strength in sharing her experiences with women who have gone through similar things. She resolutely decides to make the invisible women of the war visible and demands justice from the government—a process that is both healing and infuriating.
Subina Shrestha (director)
Subina Shrestha is a filmmaker and a journalist who likes to push boundaries in storytelling. Her work ranges from print stories in the New York Times, to short fiction in virtual reality. Her news coverage on Nepal’s earthquake and ist aftermath earned her multiple awards including an Emmy nomination. She was nominated for the Rory Peck Award for her camerawork while undercover reporting in Myanmar during cyclone Nargis. She was a 2017 Nieman fellow at Harvard, a 2019 Global Media Maker fellow at Film Independent, and a 2022 Ochberg fellow at the Dart Centre, Columbia University.
DEVI participated in the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival 2024, the DMZ International Documentary Film Festival, and the Doc Edge Film Festival 2024. The film received the Edge of Impact Award and the Film South Asia Jury Award.