The Iron Digger

The Iron Digger is the story of a Jelbang village in the Rolpa district. Jelbang was considered a commercial center of mountain iron around 2046 BS. However, now the iron mine is closed. After the Nepal government closed the mines, the family of 84-year-old Raj Bahadur Budha Magar, who had been working in iron mines since age 10, became unemployed, and some disappeared abroad in search of employment. In contrast, others were killed in the civil war. The film shows the impact on the lives of villagers like Raj Bahadur Budha's family after the closure of Jelbang's iron ore mine.

Being from the same Indigenous Magar Community and remote mountain village, people are unknown of the cinemas. I always wanted to explore their hidden and authentic stories to the world through the medium of cinema. I have noticed that we can make a documentary film on the story of the Iron diggers. Because I am familiar with the local language, culture, and tradition, I directed this movie. There were a lot of challenges during the shooting. Going deep into the narrow iron mine to extract the iron ore and climbing down the steep hills, working with the indigenous villagers who were not familiar with the camera, was a new experience for me. Though the movie was delayed in production and post-production due to the Covid pandemic, the final outcome has inspired me to make similar types of documentary films in the upcoming days.