devi a story of family, resistance, and hope ...

Logline: Devi, a former guerrilla fighter who survived wartime rape, decides to fight for justice. Nepal's leaders want to keep the shameful truth about how sex abuse was used as a weapon of war buried, but Devi will do whatever it takes to bring her suffering and that of her countrywomen to light and resolve the conflict still raging within her.

A film by Subina Shrestha

https://vimeo.com/737833633 (Password: Devi 2022)

Summary

Devi Khadka is leading a quiet resistance. As she travels around Nepal, listening to stories of wartime rape survivors, and creating a unified voice for justice, she knows that she’s poking a hornet’s nest. Nepal’s leaders want to bury the shameful truth of wartime rape. As the only public face of survivors, Devi has decided that she can no longer stay silent. But her hip-hop-loving teenage daughter just wants her to be a mum.

In 1997, seventeen-year-old Devi, was arrested, accused of being a rebel, tortured, and raped in custody. A civil war had just begun. Rebel leaders revealed her as a rape ‘victim’. Tagged with this shameful taboo, Devi battled depression, social ostracism, joined the rebel frontlines, and rose through the ranks, even serving as a member of the parliament when the war ended.

Shot as an immersive verité, the film travels with Devi, as she consolidates the voices of survivors. As Devi confronts her former lawyer and her counselor, the film dives into deeply intimate and vulnerable moments. Through her diary, supported by archives and sweeping images, Devi reconstructs history erased to rewrite her new destiny.

‘

Why this film?

“I have proof. If nothing is done by the government, I am ready to go to the international courts.” – Devi Khadka

In October 2020, when Nepal’s Human Rights Commission divulged the names of alleged perpetrators of abuses committed during Nepal’s ten-year-long conflict, the 728-page document did not include wartime rapes. In 2014 Human Rights Watch published a report on rape during Nepal’s conflict with testimonies of around 400 women. The government ignored the report.

Movements need champions. For years, activists tried to convince Devi to be the voice for other survivors. But Devi was still traumatized and had lost faith in others. Devi’s fears were justified. One just needs to watch the testimony of Nadia Murad, documented beautifully in ‘On Her Shoulders’ by Alexandria Bombach, to see how victims of sex crimes are forced to re-live their trauma through the media. While Devi did not trust human rights activists, she also had a misplaced faith in the Maoist party and believed that her party stood for justice. Devi had justified her rape as a ‘sacrifice’ to the ‘revolution’. But over the course of time, Nepal’s political landscape changed. Interim reparation was provided to other survivors of the conflict and the families of the victims but survivors of sexual violence have been excluded. The years of dashed hopes have embittered Devi. Devi also carries the weight of the knowledge that her silence has stolen the voice of the other survivors. This film carries Devi’s voice and the hopes of hundreds of woman and their families that justice might be possible one day.

This film is also a reminder of the long-term and unconscionable every day impacts on the survivors and their families. While many survivors battle depression and PTSD, their children carry a legal burden. Many of them are coming of age now and they need to apply for citizenship. Nepal’s constitution, ratified in 2015, does not allow women to independently pass on their citizenship to their children. The children of women who were raped during the war are at risk of statelessness. This film is about how Nepal’s leaders, including the Maoists who waged a war for equality, have failed women.

While the international community has occasionally called on Nepal to adhere to human rights principles and address crimes under international law, they have not specifically mentioned wartime rapes. Donor governments including the US, UK, and the EU fund programs to promote peace, human rights, and the rule of law. But while impunity prevails, their programs have not been effective and had little to no measurable impact. This film is a call for the international community to support survivors in calling for an end to impunity.

This film will encourage women to speak up about peacetime rape as well. As many as five women report rape every day in Nepal. In normal times, an estimated 35% of women worldwide experience some form of physical and sexual violence (not counting sexual harassment). Because of lockdowns caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, incidents of rape have reportedly increased. Devi believes that the continued impunity of wartime sex offenders has led to the increasing numbers of sexual crimes in times of peace. This film will help to break the silence around sexual violence in Nepal.

Artistic Vision:

‘Devi’ is an immersive verité, that takes you into Devi’s Khadka’s world as an activist, a politician, a wife, and a mother.

The paths taken in this journey have been active collaboration between Devi and the film team. Devi has her say on what she wants to be filmed and this collaboration has taken the film to some unexpected avenues. Devi’s unfolding story, her vulnerability and her joy, has been captured with intimacy, the choice of the lens also reflecting her state of mind.

The film has actively avoided interviews and uses Devi’s encounters and conversations with people from her past to reveal her story. Devi’s diary takes us to her past and into her thoughts. Supported by archives of never before seen footage of the Maoist conflict, and memories created with sweeping images, the film explores Devi’s past and her trauma. As Devi ‘lost all images and colours’ after the rape, these images will be represented in desaturated colors.

As Devi fights for justice, the film will travel from the chaos of Kathmandu to the often stark landscape of the hills and melancholic plains of Nepal. The vastness of Nepal’s landscape is in sharp contrast to the isolation that many other survivors are facing. All the other survivors will be faceless bodies– just the way they were seen and used by the men during the conflict. To protect the identities of the other survivors, the film will use actors' voices and voice distortion.

The film will use Nepali artists; from the modern pop songs that Devi’s daughter listens to, to the jubilant singing and dancing of revolutionary Maoist music, which Devi herself likes to sing. Devi and her mother are both musical and their original songs will also feature in the film.

Access:

The filmmakers have exclusive access to Devi, her family and her story. For years, journalists and activists have tried to get Devi to tell her story, but she was not ready. “I’ve always been afraid that the NGOs and journalists will use me”, she says. Devi approached our team, armed with her diary, because she trusts that we will not betray her.

This access has been possible because of the unique composition of the filming team as well. Researcher/ line producer Aruna Rayamajhi is from the same community as Devi, and has known Devi and her family since the days of the civil war. Aruna was a guerilla rebel herself, and Devi and Aruna share a bond and an insight that would have been impossible for any other team. The director Subina Shrestha is from the same community as Devi’s husband, Raj Kumar Shrestha, which opened one more door. More importantly, Subina’s work as a journalist has given her a level of credibility, and her short films on the Maoist conflict have helped establish a level of comfort for Devi and her family. Since the early days of the conflict, cameraman Bishnu Kalpit has been deeply involved in filming and archiving the civil war. Bishnu comes from a similar background as Devi and many others who joined the Maoist movement. He blends in and is sometimes mistaken for a family member. Bishnu also brings with him some never-before-seen footage of Nepal's civil war. With Subina also working as a camera operator when needed, Devi and her family have accepted the filmmaking team with ease and comfort and have been given unprecedented access.

Outreach

Devi wants to bring global attention to the hundreds of other women, who were raped and sexually abused during the conflict. Despite social stigma associated with rape, more than 400 cases of war time rape are registered in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. More than 1000 women have implied they were raped. Devi hopes that her speaking up will help other women speak up and fight for justice. Devi has decided to speak because ‘not addressing it gives license to men to rape women with impunity, even in times of peace.’

The film will be extensively used by Devi and NGOs across Nepal, to start conversations on war time rape. Devi is keen to go around the country to organize women. Devi will can also be used across the world, in post conflict countries, to start conversations around rape and war crimes.

Director’s statement:

In June of 2019, Devi called me and gave me her diary in which she had detailed her life, including the rape and the aftermath. She expressed with urgency that she wanted me to tell her story. Politically, the Maoist former guerillas had merged with a mainstream political party. The newly formed Communist Party of Nepal won a sweeping electoral victory in 2017. Now that they were part of the ruling establishment, the chances that victims of abuses would get justice had become slimmer.

When a country goes through civil war, story tellers have an obligation to bear witness. As one of the few Nepali women in media, I spent some time traveling with an all-women battalion of guerillas during the conflict for a short film. Devi was a legend then. But over the years, my requests to meet her were declined.

I understand why Devi could not talk for such a long time. When the #MeToo movement started, unpleasant memories of college sexual assault resurfaced. It took decades for me to overcome it and process it. I am in awe of Devi and her strength. I also lost a friend in 2019, a human rights activist, who had worked extensively on sexual violence. I feel like I owe it to her to make this film.

These two decades of telling stories from Nepal have earned me people’s trust. An additional layer of confidence has been added by my researcher and my mentee, Aruna Ryamajhi. Aruna was a guerrilla herself. Disillusionment came sooner to her, and since 2010 she’s been working as a journalist, often doing groundbreaking and controversial reports on women within the Maoist party. Over several months, Aruna and I met Devi regularly, listening to her and familiarizing ourselves with her. Devi has given us access to film her family life. We’ve shown her and her husband edited sections (Devi is not ready to go over some sections) and discussed the next steps with her, which helped build trust. Devi’s husband, also a former guerrilla, comes from the same ethnic community as me and he too is opening up.

I’ve come to understand the burdens that Devi has to carry. Over the years, some women told me in confidentiality that they’d survived rape. They’d hoped that Devi would come to their support. But Devi had chosen the Maoist party over them. I often wonder if reaching out to me is Devi’s search for some form of absolution. I’ve been mindful that I don’t jeopardize the women who choose to share their stories to Devi - either by some careless exposure of their identities, or over-promising and disappointing them. I’ve been conferring regularly with human rights activists and lawyers who have worked with survivors before.

I’ve found a team committed to telling stories of justice that those in power don’t want to be told.

Impact

The rights of women and sexual assault victims to justice and safety must be protected everywhere. Our impact campaign will support and strengthen protagonist Devi as she fights for the women of Nepal to achieve justice for conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV). With Devi at the heart of a powerful international movement, the film will put a global spotlight on the importance of this issue for the future of the rule of law in Nepal, and beyond.

CRSV victims during Nepal’s civil war continue to be denied justice. Justice will only be achieved when international actors use their position and leverage to pressure the Nepali government to follow through on transitional justice commitments.

By building a powerful international community around Devi to demand action and accountability by the Nepal authorities on CRSV justice, the impact campaign will change perceptions of Nepal’s CRSV survivors, create and improve support networks for women victims of sexual violence in Nepal, stimulate international conversations around Nepal’s post-conflict justice mechanisms gaps and needs, and ultimately advance the global movement for women’s rights by contributing to a world in which victims of sexual violence can pursue justice against their attackers confident that society and systems will protect them.

Actions in our impact campaign to achieve these objectives will include high-level political screenings, meetings and advocacy, mobilising civil society organisations and influential figures such as Amal Clooney, Pramila Pratten UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict and Reem Alsalem UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women to publicly support Devi and the film and demand that CRSV be prioritised in the Nepal transitional justice agenda.

We will connect with Nepal organisations to embed the film in their ongoing activities and embolden other women to join with Devi, and engage wider international audiences with educational materials and screenings, and by using high-profile moments such as the International Day for Eliminating Sexual violence in Conflict to promote the film and Devi’s mission, drawing attention to Devi and the film as the key voice driving legal, societal and policy conversations and outcomes.

Our impact campaign is focused on delivering measurable outcomes, we will collect data throughout the campaign to inform our strategy and actions, and report on achieved results through quantitative and qualitative indicators.

The 'Devi' Team

Director/ Producer

Subina Shrestha is a filmmaker and a journalist who likes to push boundaries in storytelling. Her work ranges from print stories on the New York Times, to short fiction in virtual reality. Her documentaries on Al Jazeera have been used by various educational institutions including Columbia Journalism School, SOAS, and by human rights organizations in the Hague to discuss modern day slavery and the Maoist conflict. Her news coverage on Nepal’s earthquake and its 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 and a 2019 Global Media Maker fellow at Film Independent.

Producer

Rosie Garthwaite is currently making investigative and OSINT documentaries from her sofa in London about the Middle East and North Africa as Senior Producer for BBC News Arabic. She founded Mediadante, producing the Emmy-nominated, The Workers Cup, that premiered on the opening night of Sundance 2017. In 2015 the International Emmy-award winning film Escape from Isis / Escaping ISIS she developed was referenced by the UK Prime Minister in a key speech and shown to the U.S. Congress. In 2014 she Exec produced a CINE Golden Eagle award-winning series following the first Saudi woman up Everest. She is a former British army officer and author of the award-winning book How to Avoid Being Killed in a War Zone published by Bloomsbury in 2011.

Researcher/Line Producer

Aruna Rayamajhi is an independent journalist and a researcher who’s known for her fighting spirit. As a child, she joined the ‘revolution’ to change the status quo, and as a woman, she became a journalist who challenged the status quo within the Maoist party. She consistently wrote about inclusion, discrimination, and sexual abuse in the party, and became persona non grata. She was the acting editor for the Maoist-run weekly paper, Janadesh. This is her first documentary project.

Cinematographer

Bishnu Kalpit is an award winning independent cameraperson. Bishnu has worked with the director Subina Shrestha for ten years. His films with Subina include Birth In Nepal, an intimate story on the perils of motherhood, and The Disillusioned Soldier, a story of a child soldier in the Maoist conflict, among many others. Bishnu's work with the Maoists has given him an open access to former members of the party.

Co-Producer

Heejung Oh founded Seesaw Pictures in 2017 and has produced creative documentaries that have strong records both in theatrical release and international festivals. She is an alumni of Eurodoc and Rotterdam Lab, and has been invited as a mentor and an assessment committee for DOK Leipzig, EBS International Documentary Festival, and many more.

Co-Producer

Ingvil Giske has more than 20 years experience as director and producer of documentaries, shorts and animation-films. Ingvil joined Medieoperatørene in 2011. Medieoperatørene is a Norwegian production company that has produced award-winning documentaries for the Norwegian and international markets since 1995. The company produced The Painter and the Thief (2020), which received over 30 film awards, among which were the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for creative storytelling at Sundance and a Grierson award.

Executive Producer

Co-founder and chair of Aadi Films, Deepak Rauniyar is a director, screenwriter, and producer. Deepak is the first Nepali director to compete at a major international film festival when his debut Highway premiered at the 2012 Berlinale. His second film White Sun, premiered at the 2016 Venice Film Festival and has screened throughout the world (Toronto, Busan, Locarno, Rotterdam), winning awards at Venice, Singapore, and Palm Spring film festivals. The film was Nepal's official selection for the 90th Academy Award Best Foreign Language Film. The New York Times recently described Rauniyar as one of "The 9 New Directors You Need to Watch." Rauniyar is developing his third feature, 2019's TFL World Co-Pro Award winner, The sky Is Mine (Berlinale TPM 2020). Besides Devi, Deepak's producer /co-producer credit includes Johan Carlsen's Death on the Street (IFF Rotterdam 2021) and forthcoming films of David Barker's Wiring Utopia (TFI Sloan Fund award 2019), and Anil Baral's The Palace (Busan Co-pro and Asian Cinema Fund 2018). He is an alumnus of the Toronto and Berlinale Talent Campuses as well as the Cannes Cinéfondation program. He has served as a jury member at Locarno and Sydney Film Festivals and Asia Pacific Screen Awards.

Executive Producer

Kirstine Barfod received an Emmy, a Cinema Eye award for Outstanding Achievement in Production, and a 2020 Academy Award nomination for producing “The Cave”, directed by Oscar-nominated director Feras Fayyad (Last Men in Aleppo). She has produced and co-produced a dozen feature documentaries, documentary series, including Ibrahim, selected for Sundance in 2019 “The Magic Life of V”, and “Reunited”. She has been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 2019.

Executive Producer

Dennis Paul is the co-founder of REACT FILM, an educational nonprofit built upon the power of social issue documentary films. And also React Films (www.reacttofilm.com) producing compelling TV and film content, including “The Story of Plastic” and “Slay the Dragon”. Dennis was the Exec producer of feature documentary, The Workers Cup, which premiered at Sundance 2017. For a decade, Dennis has served as a Trustee of the Museum of the Moving Image, and has been engaged with numerous nonprofit organizations focused on the digital divide, educational opportunities for underserved youth, and the power of social issue documentaries to help engage youth.

Think-Film is a market-leading impact media company that harnesses the power of visual storytelling to drive forward political and social change. The team, led by Founder and Executive Director Danielle Turkov and Global Impact Director Amy Shepherd, work at the cutting-edge intersection of art and policy, partnering with world-leading film, television, AR, VR and music artists to drive forward decisions, commitments and outcomes that bring measurable, lasting change to global situations.

TFIP Founder and Executive Director Danielle Turkov is a true visionary, able to capture the essence of a creative project and generate far-reaching ideas on how to develop and use it to maximal effect. She has extensive experience driving dynamic and imaginative campaigns that take film and other creative arts projects to new levels of engagement and impact, and in connecting together stakeholders with the power to deliver change.

TFIP Global Impact Director Amy Shepherd is an experienced policy strategist who draws from an extensive professional background in international law, politics and social justice advocacy to curate and implement imaginative and meaningful film impact campaigns that achieve measurable real-world outcomes. Amy's primary skill lies in synthesising visionary ideals into practically-workable action plans. She thrives on adding layers of meaning and legacy to creative endeavours, demonstrating impact’s investment value return and challenging film industry expectations of what impact can deliver.

Danielle and Amy’s film credits include Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning feature “The Cave” (Feras Fayyad, “Last Man in Aleppo”), “Dark Waters” (Todd Haynes, starring Mark Ruffalo, Anne Hathaway, Tim Robbins), Oscar-shortlisted and Emmy-nominated “My Enemy, My Brother” (Ann Shin), Award-winning documentary “iHuman” (Tonje Hessen Schei), multiple award-winning docu-fiction “La Soledad” (Jorge Armaud Thielan) and recently released documentary “The Scars of Ali Boulala” (Max Eriksson).