Profile details

Abinash Bikram Shah

Director

Abinash Bikram Shah's career has been built through both writing and directing, with each side of that work strengthening the other. His early short I AM HAPPY reached the Busan International Film Festival in 2011, and soon after his screenwriting was attached to Highway, a project that brought his name into wider conversation around contemporary Nepali cinema. That beginning is important because it shows a filmmaker entering the field through story construction first, then steadily extending that voice into direction. Across the following decade, Shah kept moving between short films and feature writing. The Black Hen added another internationally visible writing credit, while Tattini showed a more intimate directorial line. Lori: Melancholy of my Mother's Lullabies brought those strands together most clearly. The short received the Short Film Special Distinction at Cannes in 2022, marking a major recognition for work shaped by both his screenplay and direction. He then co-wrote Shambhala, which was selected for the main competition at Berlinale in 2024, confirming that his writing remained central to some of Nepal's most ambitious recent films. That long preparation led to a decisive new stage with Elephants in the Fog. As of July 24, 2026, the film has been selected for Un Certain Regard at Cannes and received the section's Jury's Prize, turning years of festival development, script work, and short-form direction into a clear breakthrough as a feature director. His training record helps explain that progression: he was part of the Asian Film Academy in 2008 and later participated in Berlinale Talents. The through-line in his work is patience. Rather than building visibility through sheer volume, Shah has built it through carefully placed projects that keep writing at the centre and let direction grow from that foundation.