JTC 26: Homeland Inspiration

Ashish Shrestha's interest in documentary filmmaking originated from his love of travel.  

After growing up in a small town in Nepal, he moved to the capital city of Kathmandu, touring the remote villages and unchartered terrains in the area where he encountered various cultures, foods and communities.  

"I wanted to tell the stories I witnessed, and that desire became the foundation of my interest in storytelling," Shrestha said. "I wasn't fully aware of the power of storytelling at the time; I simply wanted to give a voice to the underrepresented and capture the beauty of the cultures and traditions I encountered." 

After learning about the University of Mississippi's Master of Fine Arts in Documentary Expression program through a friend, he realized he wanted to sharpen his storytelling skills. 

His time at the Center for the Study of Southern Culture helped him find his voice and define his interests. 

"The professors and faculty have also been genuinely supportive throughout, and the experience has been incredible," Shrestha said. "I came from a different academic background, so I wasn't familiar with in-depth storytelling, film festivals, funding, impact or career pathways; my understanding was very surface-level.  

"I just wanted to tell stories; that was all I knew. This program has helped me learn and understand everything from scratch, both technically and theoretically." 

Oxford wasn't the only place of learning for Shrestha. He spent time in Dallas as an intern with NP Films, which is run by a young Nepali filmmaker, learning technical skills for different cameras and lighting at events and concerts.  

"It was a unique and exciting experience, and it was also my first experience living in a big American city, so it was meaningful both personally and professionally," he said. 

While in Dallas, he happened to meet Dipa Bhattarai, a Nepalese immigrant entrepreneur from Mississippi actively changing the landscape of the beauty industry who became the inspiration for his M.F.A. thesis film "Threading the American Dream." 

"For my thesis film, I wanted to work on something that truly mattered to me, not just pick a random topic to fulfill a requirement," he said. "The challenge was that I wasn't sure what I was looking for at first; I didn't have a clear story preference." 

The project taught Shrestha the importance of understanding his limitations as a documentarian, since he drove to Bhattarai's salon two hours away in Columbus multiple times.  

"The biggest thing I learned is that detailed preparation and planning before you start filming is absolutely worth the time," he said. "The easiest part was that we both come from Nepal and speak the same language, which made communication natural and gave me good access to her personal and professional life." 

Shrestha offers a unique perspective as a storyteller, especially by featuring a UM Nepalese graduate as the subject of his thesis, said Melanie Ho, MFA graduate adviser. Bhattarai earned her Master of Taxation and Data Analysis from the Patterson School of Accountancy in 2021. 

"Having these kinds of shared experiences, in my opinion, allows for there to be more trust in the collaborative relationship of filmmaker/participant and a more intimate form of storytelling," Ho said. "These are important stories – a Mississippi story, a Southern story, a diasporic story, a Nepalese story." 

Shrestha's desire to create work noticeably propels him, and he has put together an impressive portfolio, Ho said. 

"Ashish has been proactive about engaging with opportunities that offer industry experience, something that can't be taught in a classroom setting," she said. "I've gotten to know Ashish and have witnessed his navigation of the film world through these moments as well." 

His hard work paid off most recently with first prize in the student artistic presentation category at the Southern Studies Conference at Auburn University at Montgomery, where he participated in a panel focusing on telling stories of the South through the lens of documentary film.  

"Winning boosted my motivation and gave me greater confidence in the story I was telling," he said. 

Top: Ashish Shrestha, a documentary expression graduate student from Nepal, graduates in May after completing his thesis film and earning first prize in the student artistic presentation category at the Southern Studies Conference at Auburn University at Montgomery. Photo by Srijita Chattopadhyay/Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services