Name of the film THE RIYALISTS
Directed by Kesang Tseten
Duration 69 minutes
Year 2021
CountryNepal
Language Nepali, English (English subtitles)
Special Note International Premiere
PRINCIPAL CREW
Cinematography Siddhartha Shakya
Editing Shyam Karki
Sound Bishnu Kalpit
Music Jyoti Simha
Writing Kesang Tseten
About the film
'The Riyalists' reconnects with Kesang Tseten's earlier film 'In Search of the Riyal' (2009), which focused on four young Nepali migrant workers from disadvantaged communities in Nepal bound for the Gulf. They were in their late teens, two of them Dalit. 'In Search of the Riyal' depicted many Nepalis’ often disillusioning and, sometimes empowering, experience in the Gulf, rarely captured during a time before smartphones. More than a decade later, in 'The Riyalists', Tseten picks up the trail of the four main subjects from his earlier film. Over a decade, the four trajectories represent a chronicle about young Nepalis.
About the director
Kesang Tseten is a Nepali documentary filmmaker. He is a graduate of Dr Graham’s School in India, Amherst College and Columbia University. His documentaries have been screened regularly in Nepal and in numerous international film festivals such as the International Documentary Film Festival of Amsterdam, Leipzig, Yamagata, Thessaloniki, Krakow, Viennale, and the Margaret Mead. His films include the award-winning 'Who will be a Gurkha', 'Trembling Mountain', and a trilogy on Nepali migrant workers in the Gulf States. His most recent films are 'The Riyalists' (2021), 'A Migrant Speaks' (2022) and 'Diversity Plaza' (2022).
