Filmmaker Tribeny Rai on creating ‘Shape of Momo’, nominated for the 2026 Ingmar Bergman International Debut Award

Raised successful a predominantly pistillate household, Sikkim-based filmmaker Tribeny Rai believes her film, Shape of Momo, reflects the compartmentalised experiences of men and women successful an unequal world.

“When I was increasing up, I was ever reminded that I was not arsenic bully arsenic my antheral cousins oregon different antheral members successful the family, and I was shaped by these events,” says Tribeny, who grew up with 3 sisters.

The Nepalese movie was precocious screened astatine the 11th Jaffna International Film Festival successful the Debut Films category. It is besides nominated for the 2026 Ingmar Bergman International Debut Award astatine the Göteborg Film Festival successful Sweden to beryllium held aboriginal successful January. The movie premiered astatine the Busan International Film Festival successful South Korea successful November 2025, earning the Taipei Film Commission Award and the Songwon Vision Award.

The movie is simply a commentary connected stereotypical sex roles and the toll it takes connected women who defy specified expectations. The protagonist Bishnu, played by Gaumaya Gurung, returns to her colony successful Sikkim aft leaving her occupation arsenic a copywriter successful Delhi. She lives with her parent and grandmother, who are utilized to starring a beingness without men successful the family, but beryllium connected men to get things done astir the house.

Bishnu rebels against this dependence, which has led to indifference to the men’s actions successful their lives. This resentment is further deepened with the introduction of Bishnu’s sister Junu, who is large and a unfortunate of assigned sex roles. The movie progresses arsenic Bishnu tussles with a agrarian patriarchal society.

The movie begins with a dedication to Tribeny’s father. “My begetter passed distant 13 years agone from cancer. I person seen my parents endure successful nine and wrong the extended household since they didn’t person a son. I person seen them discriminated against by their relatives. However, my begetter ne'er made maine consciousness less, due to the fact that of his experiences astir different people. I deliberation helium would beryllium arrogant of this film. He was not 1 of the men successful the film. So, it lone made consciousness to dedicate the movie to him,” says Tribeny, implicit a Zoom telephone from Sikkim.

Through this film, Tribeny explores the dichotomy betwixt patriarchy successful agrarian and municipality settings and pistillate bureau successful the 2 locales. “When you effort to archer a idiosyncratic story, you cannot permission the societal aspects retired of it. Women’s bureau is truthful fragile that the aforesaid bureau which protects her successful the city, similar being capable to spell to the constabulary erstwhile thing happens, backfires erstwhile she tries to usage it successful the village, arsenic she is challenged by 1 of the characters.”

Shape of Momo weaves the thought of feminism done motifs and metaphors. Frames featuring portraits of Nepali feminist writer Parijat and a poster referencing Virginia Woolf’s effort A Room of One’s Own underscore the film’s feminist message.

“I revisited Virginia Woolf’s effort portion penning the script. As a filmmaker successful Sikkim, galore radical are unfamiliar with the request for a originative workspace, truthful they presume you person thing to do. They inquire maine to instrumentality my parent to weddings, funerals, and if idiosyncratic successful the household falls ill, I americium the archetypal 1 they call. Those were the times erstwhile I wished I had a country of my own, the means to unrecorded independently, oregon prosecute penning successful a nonrecreational setup.”

The signifier of a momo acts arsenic a perceived identifier for an perfect pistillate successful the movie.

The beingness of a favored feline named Azadi serves arsenic a metaphor. “We had a full country wherever it is revealed wherefore the feline is named Azadi, but removed it arsenic it was not working. It is astonishing to spot how, arsenic the movie travels, radical find galore interpretations, and astir of the clip it is astir however the feline represents bureau and independency of women.”

Making of Momo

The manager considers her abbreviated movie Yathawat, her diploma movie astatine the Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute (SRFTI), arsenic a precursor to Shape of Momo. The 22-minute-long movie tells the communicative of 3 sisters and their parent trying to unafraid a authorities occupation pursuing their father’s death.

“When I was successful movie school, I mostly made experimental films. I showed it to my mother, who did not recognize it. So, I made a conscious prime to trade a communicative movie due to the fact that I emotion my mother, and if she doesn’t recognize the films I make, what is the point? By then, my begetter had passed away; truthful it was beauteous overmuch a location afloat of women, with my parent unsocial navigating society.”

The publication took clip since, initially, arsenic Tribeny was penning connected her own. But past she discovered her co-writer Kislay’s movie Aise Hi, astir an aged pistillate who starts travelling aft her husband’s death. Impressed by his craft, Tribeny brought him connected committee for the project.

“It is precise hard to nutrient an indie film, but adjacent much hard to nutrient 1 successful Nepalese. I deliberation there’s lone 1 Nepalese movie connected Netflix. I had saved up immoderate wealth from a fewer gigs for Doordarshan, and my parent had precocious retired from her authorities job, truthful we got a sum from her. Then, later, Kislay founded a accumulation location with a radical of friends, and they contributed arsenic well.”

The formed and unit dwell of students from SRFTI and Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, says the filmmaker.

“I had decided that erstwhile I made my archetypal film, I was decidedly going to formed radical who look similar maine truthful that it volition resonate with the younger procreation who volition volition person thing to look up to, which I did not have. I besides wanted to unfastened our satellite to radical who are not alert of it.”

Apart from Göteborg Film Festival, the movie is acceptable to question to a fewer different European festivals. “I surely privation to merchandise the movie successful Sikkim, North Bengal, Shillong, Dehradun, Guwahati etc, wherever determination is simply a Nepali-speaking population, arsenic I deliberation it is important for my assemblage to ticker this film.”