Brilliantly Shot Interview of An Important Member of the Nepali Punk Rock Community – WATCH

A glimpse into the punk rock scene and culture in Nepal through the eyes of Sareena Rai. Sareena Rai has been the mainstay of the Nepali punk rock scene for more than 20 years in Nepal. She has played in numerous bands over the years – Rai Ko Ris, Naya Faya, The Kathmandu Killers, just to name a few. We cover her journey from being in bands in the early days of punk rock in Nepal to opening up The Infoshop, where like-minded bands and punters would hang out and exchange ideas on playing music, to present where she is involved in various social projects for the empowerment of women in Nepal. Sareena is still very active in the music scene in Nepal where she still continues to play in bands. Sareena was also kind enough to do a scene report with us a few years ago – click HERE to read that.

Sometime during last Autumn, Le Guess Who? festival from the Netherlands commissioned a short documentary on the underground punk scene in Nepal and there was no better person other than Sareena Rai to tell us the history of Nepali Punk Rock from the 90s through her eyes. She covers the DIY scene, the bands that were involved, and the seminal record/DIY/zine store for punters – The Infoshop.

Check out Ris Records’ bandcamp to deep dive into the Nepali punk scene: https://risrecords.bandcamp.com/

The Reporters
Nitesh Pradhan is a writer/director based in Kathmandu and Mumbai. In the past 7 years, he has made a number of short films; directed and edited many music videos and made ad films for a few Indian brands. He’s looking to make his first feature film in the next couple of years. Manas Singh Suwal is a Cinematographer based in Kathmandu. Over the last 10 years, he has worked with many renowned directors on many Music videos, Ad films and Short films.

About Reports from Other Continents
Le Guess Who? has launched its new video production ‘Reports from Other Continents’, in which people from all over the world share video reports on topics such as art, music, culture, and social life from within their local community. It’s a platform for people to tell their own story. Normally, Le Guess Who? shares these kinds of special stories about worldwide musical traditions and cultural developments through concerts and performing artists; now the festival has found a way to do so online.

All reports are made specifically for Le Guess Who? and are commissioned by the festival.

https://www.leguesswho.com/