Kathmandu, June 7 -- On Saturday morning, filmmaker Prasuna Dongol posted a heartfelt status on Facebook, describing her experience attending a film pitch programme in Kathmandu. She reported what she saw at the inaugural Short Film Development Lab pitch event: a room full of energy, teams ready to pitch, and a stage full of gatekeepers. When the organising team was called up, she counted twelve men. There were no women mentors.

Most of the projects that day, she wrote, were stories about women. That, in itself, did not trouble her. ''Stories should be told across experiences,'' she wrote. What did was how many of the pitches ''seemed to lack the depth, research, empathy, or genuine engagement that such stories deserve.'' Then she looked...