Like the blind men in the famous parable trying to understand an elephant by touching only one part of it, society often views marginalized communities through incomplete perceptions. One person touches the ear and says it is a fan. Another grabs the tail and calls it a rope. Someone else feels a leg and insists it is a pillar. Yet no one attempts to see the elephant as a whole.
That tension between society’s partial understanding and a community’s complete existence forms the heart of ‘Elephants in the Fog’, known in Nepali as ‘Tiniharu’.
At the 79th Cannes Film Festival, Nepali cinema achieved a historic milestone. Director Abinash Bikram Shah and actor Pushpa Thing Lama returned home after their film became the first Nepali feature to win the Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard section.
Yet behind the glamour of Cannes lies a story filled with tears, resilience, and the lived experiences of Nepal’s transgender community.
For Shah, making the film was never just about chasing awards. “The production process was so challenging that we barely had time to think about festivals or prizes,” he said on Nepalkhabar’s talk show Let’s Talk. “We were shooting in the bitter cold of the Terai during severe winter conditions. Our only concern was how to complete the scenes.”
According to Shah, the journey from pre-production to post-production was not merely about making a film, it was about validating a truth. “Every day brought new problems: technical issues, artists’ concerns, logistical challenges. Solving those took all our energy. Going to Cannes felt like a distant dream. Still, somewhere in the back of my mind, I always thought that if I ever submitted a film, Cannes would be the first place.”
Many people ask why he chose to tell a story centered on the transgender community.
“The idea of a ‘chosen family’ deeply moved me,” Shah explained. “People who have been rejected by their biological families create new families of their own. The relationships they build, especially between mothers and daughters, felt profoundly human and emotionally rich.”
The elephant metaphor emerged from his research. During conversations with community members, one elder told him the story of the blind men and the elephant.
“The way society sees this community is often limited and boxed in. People focus on one aspect and assume that is the whole truth,” Shah said. “There is also a striking similarity between elephants and this community: both are searching for belonging while facing displacement.”
He continued, “Elephants travel across Nepal, India, and Sri Lanka following migration routes they have remembered for generations. Today those paths may be blocked by roads, buildings, and settlements, but the elephants keep moving forward. The struggle of this community is similar. Their journey toward acceptance continues despite all obstacles.”
At the heart of the film is Pushpa Lama, who portrays Pirati. Acting was never part of her life plan. “I was working in an office in Nawalparasi when the film team came looking for people from our community,” she recalled. “We were all waiting for them, but the casting director arrived very late. I even missed another meeting because of it. Honestly, I was annoyed and wondered why these people had come at all.”
Everything changed once she read the script.
“I realized this was my own story.”
Pushpa says every one of the film’s 114 scenes reflected experiences she had personally lived through. “I performed 114 scenes, and all 114 came from my real life,” she said. “At first, when Abinash asked me to touch the soil, touch a window, or focus on small details, I thought they might be crazy. Later I understood that acting requires feeling every object, every moment, and every emotion.”
Some scenes were so emotionally overwhelming that she struggled to continue.
“When my character goes into the forest searching for her daughter, the pain was indescribable. It wasn’t just me crying. Other actors and crew members on set were crying as well.”
Shah intentionally cast members of the transgender community rather than relying primarily on professional actors.
“I wanted authenticity,” he explained. “No matter how well I wrote the story, I could never fully capture their experiences because I am not part of the community.”
Instead of giving them a conventional script, Shah encouraged them to speak naturally.
“We rehearsed situations, and they spoke in their own words. Our screenwriter sat nearby taking notes. That process allowed us to avoid artificial dialogue and create something genuine.”
Their Cannes experience proved unforgettable.
After the premiere, the audience delivered an eight-minute standing ovation.
“When the lights came on and people began applauding, I looked up toward the sky and thanked my mother and God,” Pushpa remembered.
Yet there was also a bittersweet reality.
Nepal’s official pavilion at Cannes, organized through the Film Development Board, did not display a poster for Elephants in the Fog. Ironically, Brazil’s pavilion prominently showcased the film and even screened its trailer on digital displays.
Shah addressed the issue diplomatically.
“The chairman of the Film Development Board had asked for a poster, but I was returning from Brazil after finishing the sound design, and everything happened very late,” he said. “Still, after working so hard to reach Cannes, it felt a little disappointing not to see our film represented at our own country’s pavilion.”
He added with a smile, “Fortunately, we no longer needed publicity. We had already won the award.”
Pushpa echoed the sentiment.
“My focus was on the film and making the most of the opportunity. Later, when I learned about the poster situation, I was surprised. But I was very happy when two ministers came to welcome us at the airport after we returned.”
Since winning at Cannes, Pushpa has noticed a significant change in how people treat her.
“Before Cannes, hardly anyone knew me. Now respected artists and industry veterans praise Elephants in the Fog. It makes me proud.”
Yet she believes a large gap remains between Nepal’s laws and social attitudes.
“Our state appears progressive on paper, but society has not fully caught up,” she said. “I hope this film can become a bridge between those two realities.”
Speaking about the struggles of her community, Pushpa shared a painful memory.
“I have carried the bodies of friends whose own families refused to touch them after death. Family rejection remains our community’s deepest wound.”
She believes true change must begin at home.
“Until families accept their children as they are, this struggle will continue.”
The Nepali title of the film, Tinīharū (“Them”), reflects a simple but powerful idea: bringing those whom society keeps at a distance into the circle of “us.”
One of the film’s songs, Sadi Ke Din Me Baje Dholakiya, was not written by a professional lyricist. Instead, Pushpa and her friends created it during workshops, drawing directly from their memories, experiences, and emotions.
The song even got photographers at Cannes dancing.
“They didn’t understand the words,” Pushpa laughed, “but they understood the feeling. They danced along with us, singing ‘la la la.’”
The filmmakers are preparing for a theatrical release in Nepal this September.
“I want as many people as possible to watch this film,” Shah said. “It is not a festival film made only for critics. It is an engaging human drama.”
Pushpa has one dream above all else: taking her mother to a cinema to watch the film.
“My mother doesn’t know what a red carpet is,” she said. “But I want her to see that her daughter worked hard and achieved something meaningful.”
‘Elephants in the Fog’ is ultimately a story about identity, belonging, and recognition. Like elephants hidden in the fog, the people portrayed in the film continue searching for a place where they are fully seen and accepted.
Cannes may have introduced them to the world, but their true victory will come when Nepali society embraces those it once called “them” as “us.”
The fog is beginning to clear.
And perhaps, for the first time, belonging no longer feels so far away.
A final message from Pushpa to audiences awaiting the film’s release, “Please watch this film not merely as entertainment, but as a story of emotion and humanity. We have shared our real lives with you. Give it a chance.”
Video
.
