Deepak Rauniyar

Deepak Rauniyar's first feature film, "Highway" (2012), was the first film from Nepal to screen at a major global film festival, premiering at Berlinale and later playing at Locarno. His second feature, "White Sun" (2016), debuted at the Venice Orizzonti competition and screened at over 100 film festivals, including Toronto, Locarno, Rotterdam, New Directors/New Films, Sydney, and Golden Horse. It won the Interfilm Award at Venice, Best Film at Singapore, and Palm Springs International Film Festivals. Nepal nominated "White Sun" for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards. White Sun received rave reviews, with the Hollywood Reporter calling it "impressively accomplished" and The New York Times, which included Rauniyar among the "9 New Directors to Watch" list, writing that "White Sun" "captures a place that isn't seen much in movies."