Nov 18, Kathmandu- 'Co-Husband', a documentary film about polygamy in Nepal, has won the best short film award in Canada along with a cash prize. Ko-Husband won the best short film award with three hundred US dollars on Saturday at the 36-year-old prestigious Society of Visual Anthropology Film and Media Festival held in Toronto, Canada.

At the award ceremony held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, film festival co-directors Jennifer Kull, associate professor of the University of Southern California, and Christian Hammons, associate professor of the University of Colorado Boulder, handed over the award to Ko-Husband director Ganesh Pandey and producer Sharda Gaire.

Biswambhar Ghimire, president of Pravasi Nepali Manch Canada, also participated in the award ceremony. The American Anthropological Association and the Canadian Anthropological Society have been holding a film and media festival along with an international conference every year for 36 years. With the participation of 5,000 anthropologists from various countries of the world, including America and Canada, a conference as well as a film and media festival is being held at the Toronto Convention Center this year. In the festival, the best award was given to the lively documentary film Ko-Husband, made in the special environment of Nepal, which was considered the best in the competition of thousands of films and documentaries related to humanities and sociology from around the world.

"I am very happy and proud to receive the award among the distinguished professors and anthropologists of the world. It is a matter of pride for a documentary film made in Nepal to win a competition among documentaries from different countries," said director Pandey.

Director Pandey's Ko-Husband has previously won awards at prestigious film festivals around the world. This 35-minute documentary film based on polygamy was shot in Humla, Karnali Pradesh. As many brothers as there are in the house, the unique custom of marrying one wife still exists in the Himalayan districts including Humla. Director Pandey has brought the same subject on screen for the first time.

Director Pandey has produced Assistant Husband after nearly 4 years of filming and research. Produced by Sign Media Pvt Ltd, this documentary is also written and directed by Pandey, produced by Sharda Gayre, Chief Assistant Director and Visual Editor Ishwor Koirala, and Assistant Director Nripraj Hamal. Similarly, Chandman Dangol, Avinash Lama captured this documentary on camera. The music composition has been done by the composer Jugal Dangol.

Even before this, director Pandey's much-loved documentary film 'Bhagyale Jahekaharu' (Nepal Earthquake: Heroes, Survivors, and Miracles) had also won a dozen and a half international awards.