Film South Asia '07, the sixth holding of the FSA festival of Southasian documentaries, was held in Kathmandu, 11-15 October 2007. The festival was a success with an audience of over 9,000 people over four days in two consecutive screenings in a commercial duplex cinema. FSA ‘07 fulfilled its objective of being the forum to showcase the best documentaries made on Southasian subjects over the two previous years. The festival also brought together in Kathmandu filmmakers from all over Southasia to watch and discuss Southasian non-fiction films, and to promote the culture of watching documentaries. Specifically, the Kathmandu audience which had been groomed into an ever-larger number of non-fiction connossieurs was once again lifted to great heights through the variety and concerns available on the two large screens of FSA ’07. It is worth recalling that while FSA has now been around for a decade, its parent organization, the Himal Association, has been organizing film festivals with particular focus on documentaries since 1994.

FSA '07 saw a tremendous increase in the number of films submitted for screening compared to previous Film South Asia events. From an average of 140 films in the past festivals, this year we received a record number of 280 films – from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. In particular, FSA '07 witnessed a significant rise in the number of films submitted from Sri Lanka and Nepal as compared to past editions.

Of the 48 films screened at the main festival, 45 films were in the competition, and three were in the non-competitive section as special invitees of the FSA selection panel. The directors of 25 films represented their work at the festival, significant in itself because the festival generally does not pay for travel of filmmakers to the venue. The filmmakers presented their works to the Kathmandu audience, and were also available for discussions and Q&As after the screenings. Members of the audience also got the opportunity to interact with them informally at the venue.