Manakamana

Synopsis

Situated in the Gorkha district of Nepal, the mountaintop Manakamana (“mana” means heart, and “kamana” wish) temple is the sacred place of the Hindu Goddess Bhagwati. Since the 17th century, it’s believed that Bhagwati grants the wishes of all those who make the pilgrimage to her shrine to worship her (some even sacrifice goats or pigeons). For most of four centuries, the only way of accessing Manakamana was by way of a three-hour uphill trek. Pilgrims still travel by foot, but most journey today to the shrine by cable car, and this trip gives the form to, and is the subject of, Stephanie Spray and Pacho Velez’ superb documentary, something far more complex than it appears to be.

Director Biography

Stephanie Spray is a filmmaker, phonographer, and anthropologist who has been working at the Sensory Ethnography Laboratory at Harvard University since 2006. Her work exploits different media to explore the confluence of social aesthetics and art in everyday life. Since 1999, she has spent much of her time in Nepal, roaming in its mountains; studying its music, religion, and language; and making films.
Pacho Velez’s work sits at the intersection of ethnography, structuralism, and political documentary. Though shot in different countries, using distinct formal strategies, his films share a preoccupation with local responses to broad changes wrought by globalization. In 2010, Pacho completed his MFA at CalArts. He now teaches at Bard College.