By A Staff Reporter, Kathmandu, Apr. 22: Nepal International Film Festival (NIFF) is going to be a hybrid this time.

Due to COVID 19, the situation is becoming more complicated and new standards have been issued by the Government of Nepal to control it forcing us to hold the annual festival both virtually and in physical presence, read a statement issued by the NIFF.

The inauguration and closing ceremonies of the fourth edition of NIFF will be held as per the instructions of the government but they will be broadcast live through various media and reach more viewers.

Similarly, the films of the festival will be broadcast online, which will be available for the viewers to watch from home.

Another important part of the festival is the programmes of various thematic debates will be broadcast live through various online media and the audience can participate in it.

“Preparations are being made to organise the festival in physical presence. So we had to move from the regular schedule to Baisakh so that we could hold it physically, but this time we were forced to hybridise the annual festival due to unfavourable conditions invited by COVID-19," said KP Pathak, president of the festival.”“But it has also given us an opportunity to reach a wider audience. Earlier, we had only spectators coming to the festival venue but now we will have spectators from all over the world,” he added.

“We believe that this will make NIFF global in terms of audience reach,” said Pathak.In the past, NIFF used to be held in February every year.