That's A Wrap - Our Month Long Shoot in Kathmandu

By Steve Richards

​A month gone already? Seems like we just got here – and our blog is woefully behind. But we have SOOO much awesome 4K footage for our upcoming: Piles of Bricks (Revisited) our look at Nepal’s 2015 earthquake recovery efforts five years later.

What’d we do?
​

• Documented earthquake recovery, rebuilding, and other development efforts in Kathmandu and the surrounding Kathmandu Valley.
• Interviewed villagers that we first interviewed in the fall of 2015.
• Talked with the Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust’s Raju Roka.
• Toured Patan Durbar Square and went deep inside a Hindu temple being rebuilt from the top down - and bottom up  - with Hindu priest Susan Kapali.
• Documented home rebuilding, hi-rise reconstruction, road construction, river re-engineering, etc.
• Furthered the production of Nepal’s Water, our upcoming film about the water crisis afflicting Kathmandu, hydropower projects, sacred uses of water by various religious communities, and the impact of climate change.
• Worked with new students and delivered new equipment at the National Theological College (NTC).
• Launched our ten-part online course based upon Economics in the Gospels at the NTC.
• Began shooting and editing in 4K with the delivery of new equipment to Amit Nepali’s Jubal Studios.

• Edited a 56-minute version of So Flo FLoods and revised the trailer.
• Produced a new trailer for Piles of Bricks (Revisited)
• Toured Kathmandu and Kathmandu Durbar Square (Not to be confused with Patan Durbar Square).
• Received a visit and assistance from Oliver Aguero related to TheoEco’s New Year’s Trek.
• Documented Hindu funeral pyres and ceremonies at Pashupati on the Bagmati River.
• Updated footage at an Anglican service at Golgotha Church and delivered a sermon at Nazarene Church on Worry and Faith, derived from Economics in the Gospels.
• Completed ongoing interviews with those originally interviewed on our inaugural trip to Nepal in the fall of 2015 regarding progress with their own personal home rebuilding efforts since 2015.
• Interviewed BP Khanal a Nepali politician regarding the status of earthquake rebuilding and the issues of corruption and struggles of religious minorities in Nepal, especially Christians.

Of course, it is next to impossible to avoid mishaps on extended trips to remote places like this and this visit was no exception with the passing of our cat Oreo while we were gone. Bobbie was also pickpocketed of her phone, but she got it back after racing down the street urchin that messed with the wrong girl.

Thanks to all that are making this possible, especially Amit Nepali and his awesome family in Lalitpur and brother Kishan for the use of his motorbike that make our remote shoots possible. Also, thanks to Revs Shyam Nepali, Rinzi Lama, and the Anglican church office in Kathmandu for all their support. Special kudos to Hindu priest and brother Susan Kapali who arranged and accompanied us on awesome shoots and interviews. As always, none of this is possible without co-producer/cinematographer Bobbie Richards - and my mom Boots Richards who keeps it all moving along from home.

We’ll be putting out more as we get closer to the release of Piles of Bricks (Revisited) in April as we try to shed light on what happened to
the $4 billion the world promised to the people of Nepal. And with it our ongoing research, assistance and documentation of the people and issues entangled in the economic and environmental issues upon which we focus.

As always, thanks for reading and your continued support.