GUWAHATI: ‘Borderland Narratives,’ the three-day festival of films from contemporary Northeast India, concluded here on Monday with a positive note that such Festival of Films provides a platform to the north-eastern filmmakers to showcase their diverse cultures and also to explore newer forms of expression.
Attending the closing ceremony of the Borderland Narratives, RGU Vice Chancellor Prof Saket Kushwaha announced to make the festival as a calendar event for which he announced to provide Rupees five lakh from the university and mobilise funds for its successful conduct.
Calling for the preservation of the purity of language, he urged the student body of the RGU to conduct an open campus programme on language preservation that would further help the tribal communities to learn and speak their languages/dialects.
Appreciating the theme of the film ‘Chori’ directed by Tribeny Rai from Sikkim, Prof Kushwaha stressed on the importance of girl child in society. He said our society need to change attitude towards girl child and the best way is to showcase truth through films. Being a torchbearers of society, the filmmakers need to bring changes in different aspects of life, he added.
While giving away the awards to the filmmakers for short film competition, he asserted that making good films is more important than wining prizes adding that language should not be the barrier to express and the varsity will always welcome for the good things.
Meanwhile, in the short film competition, Ya:Yo (Grandmother) directed by Amalendu Kaushik from Assam was declared as the winner, while Badu: Lament of a fleeting Soul by Toni Perme has received the Special Jury Award.The winning film has received a cash prize of rupees one lakh while the Special Jury Awardee got Rupees 25000.
River Story by YapangnaroLongkum, The Vanishing Roots: Apatani Language and Culture by DulleyTamang, Sweet Lemon by Tanom Jerang, Pialral-Ah by Napoleon RZ Thanga, Vanishing Roots by Tage Apa were the other films nominated for the Short Film competition category.On the last segment of the festival, the screening of Chori directed by Tribeny Rai and III Smoking Barrels directed by Sanjib Dey was held.
The second day of the Borderland Narratives, a Festival of Films from Contemporary Northeast India saw a decent turnout of film enthusiastic geeks from all walks of life who thronged the mini stadium at RGU campus on Sunday.
Tribeny Rai said that the festival has exceeded her expectation. Appreciating the untiring efforts of the festival organizer, she said ‘I feel glad to be the part of the festival.’
Films including Songs of the Mist by Kivini Shohe (Nagaland), Haja by by Emang Debbarma (Tripura), Ma.Ama by Dominic Sangma (Meghalaya), Mighty Brahmaputra by Bappa Ray Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), Dhokbu by Dawa Lepcha (Sikkim), Sulhnu by K C Zoherliana (Mizoram) and Orunasol Man by Nyago Ete were screened on the second day of the festival.
The festival featured 19 filmmakers representing the eight Northeast states. The filmmakers showcased their films and participate in interactions with the audience. The festival of film was organized by the AITS in collaboration with the IGNCA’s NE regional centre, with the CCRD, the Mishmi Takin Centre for Endangered Languages and the RGU’s mass communication department as the festival’s partners.