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Every Friday night thousands of backpackers, suburbanites and college students stream into Chabad Houses from Columbus to Cambodia. But before Chabad emissaries can clank their glasses of Johnnie Walker to a “gut Shabbos,” they have to learn where to find kosher meat at the local Kroger, or master the art of bartering for vegetables at a chaotic bazaar. In “Kathmandu,” an Israeli TV that saw a May debut, creator Esther Vender provides viewers with an intimate look at the challenges – and sometimes ludicrous scenarios – Chabadniks encounter in the most far-out locales.

“Kathmandu,” as the series is titled, tracks how a young Chabad couple copes with the many challenges an observant Jew faces in a politically unstable and poor country in the Far East, like Nepal.

The series is inspired by the lives and fascinating experiences of Rabbi Chezky Lifshitz and his wife Chani who are the directors of Chabad of Nepal and the ‘parents’ of tens of thousands of Israeli backpackers who pass through the country.

Produced by July August Productions, Tel Aviv, Israel

Dalan is a 25-episode series, directed by renowned Nepali director Nabin Subba, about repression and abuse of the poor by the so-called ‘well to do landlords’ in Nepal in the early-mid 20th century. This period drama depicts the harsh reality that occurred in most of the hill regions of Nepal. The series highlights not only the repression but also the discrimination based on caste, faced especially by the Dalit groups in Nepal during that period. The relevance of this series is that the situation (of repression and discrimination based on caste) still exists in certain rural parts of Nepal. Dalan was aired in several television channels in 2006-07 in Nepal to great success.