In a remote Nepali village, a freezer arrives, hailed as a divine gift promising salvation. The priest leads the villagers in celebration as elderly men gaze at it with hope. Gofle, a slow-witted chubby man, asks, “What if it doesn’t work?”. The elders, alarmed, jokingly try to stuff him inside, but he doesn’t fit. “Too large… he’ll go to hell,” one mutters, sparking uneasy laughter. Gofle’s question lingers, casting doubt.
As monsoon rains fall, the freezer becomes a symbol of fascination and fear. Women whisper about who should inaugurate it, while school kids dare each other to stay inside for social media fame. At night, drunk teens stash beers inside, celebrating a friend’s migration.
Slowly, their dreams of the same escape escalate into frustration of being stuck. When the freezer is found toppled, panic ensues. A ritual is held to purge the evil, but fear remains.
One day Gofle, determined to prove himself, squeezes inside the freezer, slamming the door shut. His laughter fades into panic as he realizes he’s trapped. The hum of the freezer drowns his cries.The next day, the elders open it to find Gofle, frozen. The Priest checks him and solemnly whispers, “The freezer works.” Relief spreads among the elders, their path to heaven secured, while the village confronts the cost of their salvation.
Suraj Paudel is a prominent Nepali writer, director, and editor. A Fellow of the CHANEL X BIFF Asian Film Academy and recipient of the 2022 Most Promising Filmmaker Award, his editing for Lori (2022) earned a Cannes Special Mention. He wrote for Singha Durbar (2016) and directed award-winning shorts like One Mole of Water and AAMA. A graduate of Oscar International College, Suraj now teaches there while preparing his feature debut, Where the River Runs South. The film, supported by ACF’s Script Development Fund and selected for Global Media Makers LA and Asian Project Market (2023), highlights his impactful contributions to Nepali cinema.
Anup Poudel is a producer based in Kathmandu who believes in producing films and raising voices on democracy, global warming, and minor and marginalized communities. A graduate of Oscar College of Film Studies in Kathmandu, Anup has graduated in a film-producing course from Busan Asian Film School, South Korea and attended different project markets and film residencies to name a few: Asian Project Market, Holland Film Meeting, La Fabrique Cinema, Nantes Produire au Sud Workshop, Filmbazaar Coproduction Market, Global Media Makers, Pop up Film Residency etc. His short films as a Producer have been selected at festivals like Cannes, Venice, Busan, Winterthur, Locarno, Montreal, Uppsala, Galway and many more. He was also awarded by the then US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton for his short film. He has recently completed three short films and a feature, which are in the process of being submitted to various film festivals