Shape of Momo Opens KIMFF's 23rd Edition, and Releases in Nepali Cinemas Today

Shape of Momo Opens KIMFF’s 23rd Edition, and Releases in Nepali Cinemas Today

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The Buzz Nepal
May 29 , 2026

A Sikkimese filmmaker. A Himalayan story. And one of the most quietly powerful debuts in recent South Asian cinema.

There are films that arrive quietly and then refuse to leave. Shape of Momo, the debut feature from Sikkimese director Tribeny Rai, feels like one of them. The film opened the 23rd edition of the Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival on Wednesday to an audience of cinephiles, filmmakers, and critics, and today it takes the next step, a simultaneoustheatrical releasein Nepal and India.

The 23rd edition of KIMFF is being held from May 27 to 31 at QFX Chhaya Centre in Thamel, Kathmandu, under the theme “Global Stories, Local Voices,” featuring over 50 films from 29 countries. That Shape of Momo was chosen to open the festival says everything about the regard in which the film is held. Director Tribeny Rai, who attended the Nepal premiere in person, spoke about the courage it took to bring a deeplypersonalfilm like Shape of Momo to life, describing spaces like KIMFF as vital starting points in the journey of filmmakers.

The film follows Bishnu, a woman plagued by the deaths of male family members, who quits her job in the city and returns to her Himalayan village, where she must choose between conforming to tradition or claiming her independence. It is the kind ofstorythat does not need spectacle to make its point. The landscape does the heavy lifting, the performances carry the emotion, and the silence between scenes holds more meaning than most films manage with dialogue.

The production pedigree behind Shape of Momo is extraordinary for a debut feature. Rana Daggubati’s Spirit Media is supporting the film’s release, while Indian filmmakers Zoya Akhtar, Reema Kagti, and Payal Kapadia serve as executive producers. Having three of the most respected names in contemporary Indian and South Asian cinema attached to a debut feature is not something that happens by accident. It happens when a film is genuinely extraordinary, and thepeoplewho have seen it want to make sure the rest of the world does too.

The KIMFF opening ceremony was presided over by Khadak Raj Paudel, Minister for Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation, who struck the ceremonial gong to mark the official launch of the festival. The event also featured a live pitching session for nine South Asian documentary projects developed under the second edition of Kathmandu Doc Lab, mentored by filmmakers from Pakistan, Bhutan, and India.

Shape of Momo is in cinemas now.