8 Minutes Standing Ovation at Cannes: Elephants in the Fog | Anup Poudel & Pushpa Thing Lama | EP 01

On 20 May 2026, a film from Nepal played at the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival. When it ended, the room stood up — and stayed standing for eight minutes. Elephants in the Fog (तिनीहरू) - walked out with the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize, and a nomination for the Camera d'Or and the Queer Palm. Tara tyo aath minute ko pachhadi paanch barsa cha. A project that began as a pitch at Busan in 2021, passed through Rotterdam's Hubert Bals Fund, Sundance's Screenwriters Lab, the Berlinale World Cinema Fund, and ended up a five-country co-production between Nepal, France, Germany, Brazil and Norway. Most of the people you see on that screen had never acted in a film before. For Episode 01 , I sat down with the two people standing at either end of that journey - Anup Poudel, who produced it, and Pushpa Thing Lama, who carried it on screen. We talked about creativity, artists, and people of Nepal. About casting people who had never faced a camera. About what it costs a person to live inside a character for years. About awards abroad and audiences at home, ra tyo duita bich ko duri. And about what has to change so the next तिनीहरू doesn't take five years. GUESTS Anup Poudel - Producer, Elephants in the Fog (तिनीहरू). (   / anuppou   ) Pushpa Thing Lama - Lead Actor, Elephants in the Fog (तिनीहरू). (   / pushpalama69   ) ABOUT THE FILM Written and directed by Abinash Bikram Shah in his feature debut. Pirati, the matriarch of a Kinnar community in a Nepali village, is in love with a local percussionist when her daughter Aspara goes missing. World premiere: Cannes 2026, Un Certain Regard — Jury Prize winner Nominated: Camera d'Or, Queer Palm Released in Nepal: 4 September 2026 (Bhadra 19, 2083) Cinemaghar ma cha - hernuhos, ra sathi haru lai pani lagnuhos. Host: Amir Sharma (   / sharma_amir   ) A production of Aarawan Media and Tech Instagram :   / aarawandigital   Facebook :   / aarawandigital   TikTok :   / aarawandigital   YouTube :    / @aarawandigital   LinkedIn :   / aarawan   Website: https://www.aarawan.com/ Filmed & post-produced by EKTUKRA ( https://ektukra.com/ ) Naya episode ko lagi Subscribe garnuhos; yo suruwat matra ho. Follow Here : YouTube :    / @amirsharmaofficial   Instagram :   / amirsharmaofficial   TikTok :   / amirsharmaofficial   Facebook :   / amirsharmaofficial   Yo kuraakani bata kunai kura man ma basyo bhane, comment ma lekhnuhos. #ElephantsInTheFog #Tiniharu #NepaliCinema #Cannes2026 #UnCertainRegard #AnupPoudel #PushpaThingLama #AbinashBikramShah #NepaliPodcast #AarawanMediaAndTech #AmirSharma #IndependentFilm #EP01