Directors who made Northeast India proud in Mumbai Film Festival this year!
In the past few years the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival has earned the reputation of being christened as one of the best International film festivals of the country. The Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) organizes the event every year. The selection of best films across the globe which not only comprises the best of International Cinema but also pays equal attention to the best of regional as well Independent filmmakers of the country. Feature films, Documentaries, Experimental films, exclusive short films made with the theme of Mumbai, etc. are part of the eight-day film festival, taking place in different venues of Mumbai. Filmmakers from northeast have also been using the platform of the festival for the benefit of promoting their films. Acclaimed filmmakers like Jahnu Barua, Manju Baruah to independent directors like Sange Dorjee Thongdok, Bhaskar Hazarika, Reema Borah amongst others, have premiered their films in different sections of the film festival. In the year 2013, Manju Baruah's Koyad had won a special mention in the festival. It can also be cited that films from northeast, which have been a part of the film festival, also went on to win the National Film Awards in various categories. Films like Bandhon (2012), Koyad (2012), Ajeyo (2013), Dau Huduni Methai (2015) and Kothanodi (2015) are ample proofs of the meritoriousness in the curating process of the festival. A brief introduction to the three feature films from the Northeast, which have been selected this year, in the 18th edition of the film festival.
- LOKTAK LAIREMBEE (LADY OF THE LAKE, 2016)
Haobam Paban Kumar is a very popular name in the documentary film circuit of the country and considered as one of the leading documentary filmmakers in the country. Born in Manipur he has completed his three-year postgraduate Diploma in Direction & Screenplay writing from Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI), Kolkata. His documentaries AFSPA 1958 (2006) and Floating Life (Phum Shang, 2014) have won National Film Award. Loktak Lairembee is the debut feature film of the director. The film narrates the story of Tomba, who is sick and depressed since the authorities burnt his huts after blaming his community for the pollution of the Loktak Lake. One day he accidentally finds a gun within the biomass and thereafter the life of the protagonist takes a new turn. According to Habom, 'Today when I look at my birthplace Manipur, I see guns all around. Gun – a symbol of authority and ownership regimen others… be it the insurgents or the state authorities'. The 71 minutes long Manipuri film is competing the India Gold section of this year's festival. The film was also a part of the NFDC Film Bazaar.
Link of the Trailer
- HAANDUK (THE HIDDEN CORNER, 2016)
An alumnus from the Jyoti Chitraban Film & Television Institute, Guwahati, Handuk, is the debut film from the Tinsukia born director Jaicheng Jai Dohutia. The central story of the film centers around Mukti had left home to join an extremist outfit. When his bullet-ridden body is handed over to Hermoni, the narrative of the film unfolds into a chain of events that engulfs the life of the trio, Hermoni, Sewali and Biplob. Based on true events, the film delves into a section of the Assamese society in North-east India threatened by influx of illegal immigrants from across the border. Shot in actual locations, the Moran-Assamese language film is also competing the India Gold section of this year's festival.
Link of the Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1w64UGRUQo&feature=youtu.be
- SONAR BARAN PAKHI (THE GOLDEN WING, 2016
The second feature film from the Assamese filmmaker Bobby Sarma Baruah is a biopic based on the life of the Late Pratima Barua Pandey, who was awarded the Padma Shri and Sangeet Natak Akademi for her pioneering efforts in popularizing Goalpariya lokageet. Filmmaker Prabin Hazarika had previously made a National Award documentary Hastir Kanya (1997) on her life. Through this film, Bobby wants the story of the genius in Pratima Baruah Pandey to keep the posterity of the folklorist aware and conscious of what she aspired to attain in her life. The film has used the Rajbanjshi language to weave the narrative and will be screened in the The India Story section of the festival.
3. ANTARDRISHTI (MAN WITH THE BINOCULARS, 2016
A self-taught filmmaker, Rima Das has cut her teeth in short films and documentaries before making her debut feature film in Assamese Antardrishti, which will be screened in The India Story section of the festival. The filmmaker has used the binocular as a metaphor for the bitter reality of human loneliness, struggles, regrets, differences, our constant desire to control others and our surroundings, and our lack of perspective where small things perceived through the binocular of our consciousness makes it excessively large while we ignore the big right in front of us.
The Trailer of the film is not yet released.
The Trailer of the film has not yet released.
-Compiled by Dipankar Sarkar
