In Search of the Riyal (2009)

• 78%
• 2009
• Documentary
• Kesang Tseten

A prospective of the Nepal immigrants leaving for the Gulf in order to earn some riyals (Iranian currency). With a quarter of the family members gone to work as cheap laborers, Nepal seems to have lost its self-sufficiency. From a family finance supported by money sent by a young son or husband from abroad to a society without any other means of income, there seems to be no way of knowing where the problem begins and ends. The only thing we can do is revisit the present situation of immigration, which is a result of a vicious cycle of individual danger, pain, agitation, fear, and repeated migration. It's not easy for the naive citizens of Nepal who grew up in a feudal agricultural society to delve into the capitalistic economy. What if the agency that introduced foreign employers is a fraud? What if their wage is delayed? What happens to a family without its head for years? What if the money from foreign lands is gone again? Not knowing what will happen next, the citizens of Nepal live another day chasing after the mirage of foreign laborers. Can they really find riyal?