Nepal's first Cannes official selection 'Elephants in the Mist' wins Un Certain Regard Jury Prize

Abinash Bikram Shah's 'Elephants in the Mist' (Les éléphants dans la brume) made history as the first Nepali film selected for the official competition at the Cannes Film Festival, winning the Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard section. The film centers on a traditional community of transgender women known as kinnars in Nepal, blending a thriller about a missing girl with political commentary on patriarchal boundaries. Shah explains that kinnars, also called hijra in India and khawaja sira in Pakistan, have existed for 500-600 years and are believed to possess spiritual powers to bless or curse. The matriarch Pirati, played by Pushpa Thing Lama, faces a dilemma between her kinnar family and her love for a drummer. Lama, discovered two years before filming, initially performed poorly but later delivered a powerful performance drawing on her own experiences; she now works with the LGBTQ+ NGO Blue Diamond Society. The film premiered at Cannes 2026 and will screen in Paris on June 1 before its official release in September.