IAWRT Nepal member Anupa Shrestha honored as Nepal’s first female music video director

Anupa Shrestha, former IAWRT Nepal Chapter head and international board member, was honored for her contribution to Nepali music and media by the Music Video Directors Guild of Nepal. The group gave honors and awards to various creators while celebrating its second anniversary in August 20. Minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Sudan Kirati joined the event honoring creators from Nepal. 

Anupa Shrestha’s award citation read as follows: 

Born in 1974 in Nagarjuna, Kathmandu, Anupa Shrestha’s name is well-known in the field of Nepali media and music videos. A graduate in Mass Communication and Journalism, you have served in radio and television for over 2 decades. Under your creative and talented leadership, many serials, television programs and various programs related to reality shows have been aired among the Nepali audience. At a time when the presence of women in the field of film and music video direction is almost zero, you have opened t he door for other women by venturing into music video direction. Having directed around 50 music videos so far, you have produced various commercial advertisements as well as awareness and informational audiovisual content. From 2015 to 2017, you served as the president of the International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT) Nepal Chapter and worked as an international board member during the same time. You have also trained in Visual Storytelling from the University of Oklahoma, USA and Media Studies in Social Change in Israel. You have been active as an executive producer for Image Television for a long time. Therefore, in recognition of the role you have played in the field of Nepali music and communication, this special awards been given on the occasion of the 2nd Annual Celebration and General Meeting and Creator Honoring Program of Music Video Directors Guild of Nepal.  

Congrats, Anupa!

“Unveiling the World Through Her Lens”

IAWRT Nepal holds the 4th Short Film Competition.

The deadline for entries is on September 15, 2023.

Award-winning free online photojournalism course with lifetime access

Radhika Khanna, a member of IAWRT India, has developed an online course on digital photography taught comprehensively through a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Photojournalism. She intends to reach out to many learners globally, especially women, with engaging and enriching content.

There are no prerequisites or qualifications required. Learners of any age, young, working or retired, can join for free from anywhere in the world.

The MOOC on Photojournalism is live with its third run on swayam.gov.in.

In April 2023, this course received the Best MOOCs Award in India’s 24th CEC-UGC Educational Film Festival.

The course features both eminent and young Indian photographers, photo historians and curators, including Avani Rai, Avinash Pasricha, Desikan Krishnan, Dinesh Krishnan, Gopinath Sricandane, Gurinder Osan, Madhuraj, late Navroze Contractor, Nimit Nigam, Poochi Venkat, Prashant Panjiar, Raghu Rai, Prof. Sabeena Gadihoke, Sanjay Prasad Ganguly, Saravanan Janakarajan, Saumya Khandelwal, Selvaprakash Lakshmanan, Shantanu Krishnan, SR Raghunathan, Tanvi Mishra and Vicky Roy.

Available on the government of India’s free e-learning portal, SWAYAM, it is a free online course organised by Pondicherry University, India, where Radhika teaches. The course is a great way for photography enthusiasts to stay in touch with their craft and absorb insights from the masters.

The course preview link has a short introductory video and information on the course content.

To join, click on: https://onlinecourses.swayam2.ac.in/cec23_ge21/preview

An in-depth review of this course by one of the learners, Prof. Ved Kumari, Vice Chancellor of National Law University Odisha, India, has been published in Class Central’s The Report publication.

The full review can be found here: https://www.classcentral.com/report/review-photojournalism-free-course-swayam/

You can take a look at some other reviews here: https://www.classcentral.com/course/swayam-photojournalism-93318

The course started on July 31 and ends on November 24 this year. Enrolment ends on September 15, 2023.

On the recent arrests of journalists in Afghanistan

The recent arrests of journalists in Afghanistan have caused concern in the Afghan journalism community inside and outside the country. In the past week, five journalists have been arrested and imprisoned by the Taliban.

1- Faqir Ahamad Faqirzai of Killid Radio Nengarhar, arrested on August 10 

2- Jan Agha Saleh of Killid Radio Nengarhar, arrested on August 10 

3- Habib Sarab of Ariana TV Negarhar, arrested on August 10 

4- Wahdatullah Abdali, local reporter of Bakhtar News Agency from Ghazni, arrested on August 6

5- Hasib Hasass Salam, correspondent of Wayandar Kunduz, arrested on August 10 

IAWRT Afghanistan condemns these arrests and asks for the immediate release of these journalists. We believe that such actions lead to a closed space for information in the country, becoming more closed and journalists and media cannot fulfill their duties as they should. We ask international organizations to stand with Afghan journalists in more coherent cooperation.

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