Nani Sahra Walker's Shakti follows a mother seeking justice for a crime committed against her daughter, only to find out that the case is subject to a thirty-five-day statute of limitations. Set in Nepal in 2014, the film unfolds as an intimate portrait of grief which quietly yet devastatingly calls out a legal system that placed a ticking clock on every survivor coming to terms with their grief.
The story is deeply personal for Walker, who was born in Kathmandu, Nepal. A survivor herself, she first learned about Nepal's 35-day statute of limitations in late 2019 and could not let it go. This became the foundation for Shakti, her first feature directorial after years spent working across nearly every corner of filmmaking. She also admits that her academic background in religion and philosophy did lead to her interest in questions of justice and belief, and ultimately made its way into Shakti.
The film recently won Walker the 2026 Best New Filmmaker Award at the NewFilmmakers Los Angeles' 14th Annual Best of NFMLA Awards, an accolade which comes with the $2,500 Anthony Rhulen Grant.
Shakti has also won at the Heartland International Film Festival and since its release, travelled an almost entirely international festival circuit. At nearly every screening, Walker says, audience members, some in their twenties, some in their eighties, have approached her afterwards to share experiences of sexual violence they had never spoken about publicly. For her, those conversations reaffirm the film's central aim: silence protects injustice, while storytelling can make it seen and push to fight it.
An acclaimed director, writer and producer, Walker was also one of the co-executive producers of The Last Repair Shop, which won the 2024 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film.
In a conversation with THR India, Walker discussed the origins of Shakti, how the film is reality-meets-fiction, what it aims to address, and Nepal’s growing film industry.
Can you talk to us about Shakti and the story behind the film?
It's really, for me, a story about a single mother who's willing to go to all ends to protect her child. Motherhood is something so fierce and powerful. Shakti is really about motherhood and what that means.
I came to this film after I learned about the 35-day statute of limitations back in late 2019. I was shocked, I couldn't believe that was the case until 2015 in Nepal. Nepal is quite progressive in many other ways, but in this way, it seemed unbelievable to me. It's also a personal story; I myself am a survivor. So it's both a personal and a collective story.
We don't talk about it because it's taboo, and the idea of izzat — saving face, saving honour. But I think it's important to talk about it because it's not just in South Asia, it's rampant everywhere in the world.
At every festival, people from ages 20 to 85 have come and shared their own experiences with me. If we don't talk about it, there's going to be zero change. Governing bodies are always going to think that it doesn't exist.
The film is set in 2014, the year before the statute changed, though you chose not to explicitly mention the year in the film. Why is that?
It is to address the fact that the statute of limitations used to be that short.
My big hope with this film is that it brings change. In India, there's no statute of limitations. In most countries, the statute of limitations is well into the higher double digits. For Nepal to have been at 35 days, then one year, then two years, that's really restrictive. Our big push for impact with this film is to amend that statute to something more protective of survivors, something equivalent to laws around the world. My question to the lawmakers in Nepal is simply: why is it so restrictive?
Shakti is your first feature-length directorial, but you've worked across many different roles in film production. How did those experiences prepare you for directing this film?
I've been a boom operator, worked in the art department, the camera department, in casting and in many different roles. I didn't go to film school formally, so the way that I learned filmmaking was on set, hands-on. I was working in New York City in post-production across shows, short films and feature films.
A lot of people have asked me how I went from documentaries and journalism to jumping into a narrative feature. But the truth is that all of those experiences together gave me the ability and the experience to know what to expect.
As a journalist, I also think having something else that you're good at is so valuable for a filmmaker. It's life experience. With Shakti, I brought so many different experiences together. I've had exposure to so many different stories and deeply reported on things, and I find that to be a great foundation.
What are the infrastructural and financial obstacles filmmakers face when it comes to shooting in Nepal?
It's challenging. There's very little funding from the Nepali government. We didn't get any funding or tax incentives at all. There needs to be a lot more attention towards attracting filmmakers. A lot of South Indian films go to Nepal to shoot, and if there were a system with incentives and reasons for people to come, more people would.
We had a very international team, with people from India, the U.S.A, Colombia, all around the world. The infrastructure is still pretty basic, so a lot of equipment had to come from outside.
There's been a notable wave of Nepali language and Nepali-adjacent films gaining international attention recently, with films like Shape of Momo, Elephants in the Fog, and now Shakti. What do you make of this moment?
I think every year there are one or two films from Nepal that make it around the international circuit. It's a very nascent but growing film community. The newer generation is really enthusiastic about making films. I live in the diaspora in the US, so my experience is slightly different from people who are living there, but there are Nepali filmmakers all around the world contributing to that growth.
What do your upcoming projects look like?
I have a few projects in development that I haven't announced officially. Now that Shakti is out, I'm excited to continue developing my ongoing projects. And yes, I'm definitely working on another feature length film.
Shakti is available for screening on Fawesome.