''Punam'' is a 2006 documentary film about nine-year-old girl Punam Tamang from

Bhaktapur Bhaktapur (Nepali language, Nepali and Sanskrit: भक्तपुर, ; "City of Devotees"), known locally as Khwopa (Nepal Bhasa: , ) and historically called Bhadgaon, is a city in the east corner of the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal located abou ...

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

. It was directed and produced by Natasa Urban and Lucian Muntean (aka Lunam Docs), a Serbian independent documentary production duo specializing in telling the stories of working children.

Synopsis

The child's voice of nine–year–old Punam Tamang transports us to the city of

. There we are presented with a stark description of the hard life of this young girl and the dismal social conditions in which she lives. Punam's mother died when she was only five. She was left with her father, her newborn sister Rabina and her two–year–old brother Krishna. The Tamang children see little of their father because he works from sunrise to sundown in a rice factory, in order to earn enough money for their school fees (US$1.50 per month/student), and so during the daytime Punam assumes the roles of head of the family, caregiver and homemaker. The film also takes us into the world of Punam's friends whose families do not make enough money to afford the school fee. Instead of studying, these children have to work in a

stone quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to manage their safety ...

or brick–making factory to help their families get by. The film captures the hard work the children are required to perform and also takes a peek into the poor five–grade school that represents Punam's symbol of hope. She believes that

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

ushers in progress and is the only opportunity for improving their situation – perhaps bringing about new job opportunities in better conditions. We look at the situation through the eyes of this young Asian girl, who dreams of becoming a teacher and helping other children in situations like hers.

Activism

The

PUNAM FUND ''Punam'' is a 2006 documentary film about nine-year-old girl Punam Tamang from Bhaktapur, Nepal. It was directed and produced by Natasa Urban and Lucian Muntean (aka Lunam Docs), a Serbian independent documentary production duo specializing in t ...

, a non-profit organisation, founded by Natasa Urban and Lucian Muntean, was established in September 2007 as a result of the enormous positive feedback regarding the documentary film ''Punam'', which inspired people from all over the world to help the children presented in the film. The

is dedicated to the elimination of and fight against

child labour Child labour is the exploitation of children through any form of work that interferes with their ability to attend regular school, or is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful. Such exploitation is prohibited by legislation w ...

. For the time being, the activities of the

are aimed at the children featured in the films ''Punam'' and Journey of a Red Fridge. Its main goal is to reduce the number of illiterate working children by providing

scholarships A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need, research ...

for the children who work in

stone quarries A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to manage their safety ...

, brick kilns and carpet factories in the

region and for child

porters Porters may refer to: * Porters, Virginia, an unincorporated community in Virginia, United States * Porters, Wisconsin, an unincorporated community in Wisconsin, United States * Porters Ski Area, a ski resort in New Zealand * Porters (TV series), '' ...

working in

Himalayan Mountains The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than 100 peak ...

Alternate Titles

*''Große Schwester Punam'' (Germany, Austria & Switzerland TV title;

3sat 3sat (, ''Dreisat'') is a free-to-air German-language public service television channel. It is a generalist channel with a cultural focus and is jointly operated by public broadcasters from Germany ( ZDF, ARD), Austria ( ORF) and Switzerlan ...

) *''Dotknij życia - Punam'' (

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

TV title; TVP) *''Punam - tyttö ilman lapsuutta'' (

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

TV title;

YLE Yleisradio Oy (; ), abbreviated as Yle () (formerly styled in all uppercase until 2012), translated into English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founded in 1926. It is a joint-stock comp ...

) *''Punam fra Nepal'' (Denmark TV title; DR)

Exhibition & Awards

''Punam'' premiered at the 2006

One World Film Festival One World (Czech: ''Jeden svět'') is a human rights film festival (125,947 spectators in 2018), held annually in Prague and other 36 cities of the Czech Republic, with a selection later shown in Brussels and other countries. The festival highlig ...

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. Since then, ''Punam'' has been screened at more than 50 international festivals and received 8 awards, one of them the

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

Award for Children Rights. In 2006, ''Punam'' was voted the most popular film among teachers in the

. ''Punam'' was offered, for educational purposes, to more than 250 primary and secondary schools. About 10,000 children had the opportunity to view the documentary film ''Punam'' and debate on

issues. What is more,

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

included it into its High School Program in the United States. On 10 December 2006, on the occasion of the

International Human Rights Day Human Rights Day (HRD) is celebrated annually around the world on 10 December every year. The date was chosen to honor the United Nations General Assembly's adoption and proclamation, on 10 December 1948, of the Universal Declaration of Huma ...

, ''Punam'' was screened at the

UN Headquarters , image = Midtown Manhattan Skyline 004 (cropped).jpg , image_size = 275px , caption = View of the complex from Long Island City in 2021; from left to right: the Secretariat, Conference, and General Assembly buildi ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. ''Punam'' was released on DVD in March 2009.

Sequel

In March 2009, Natasa Urban and Lucian Muntean ( Lunam Docs) returned to

for the shooting of ''Punam'' sequel. This documentary was produced in association with

The Global Fund for Children Global Fund for Children (GFC) is a Washington, DC–based nonprofit organization whose mission is to transform the lives of the world's most vulnerable children. GFC pursues this mission by making small grants to innovative community-based organ ...

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 0927739
Lunam DocsAlternative Film Guide Review by Rosemary Westwell
Serbian documentary films 2006 films 2000s Nepali-language films Films shot in Kathmandu Nepalese short documentary films Films shot in Bhaktapur Documentary films about Nepal 2006 short documentary films