When films mirrored life

Rana Siddiqui Zaman

Human interest and issue-based stories marked the films screened at the recently concluded fourth edition of the Brahamaputra Valley Film Festival in Guwahati. 

A large number of youngsters could be seen attending the three-day festival, which saw the screening of regional movies, audience interaction sessions, workshops and panel discussions. A short film screening was also organised for new-age filmmakers from all eight states of the North-East. From more than 100 short films received, top 15 were screened.

At the festival were screened National Award-winning films like Kima’s Lode — Beyond the Class (Mizoram), The Head Hunter (Arunachal Pradesh), Tezpur 1962 (Assam), Eibusu Yaohanbiyu (Manipur) and 1962 My Country Land (Assam). The festival also honoured yesteryear Assamese actor Jnanada Kakati with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Significantly, the films chosen for the screening and awards restrained itself to those with local interest and issue-based stories. For instance, Kima’s Lode — Beyond the Class, winner of the National Award recently for the Best Mizo film, is about a pre-teen boy— Kima Pachuau. He is a quiet but naughty fellow, who has lost his father and lives in a small town of “Chhimtui” near the Burma border. His adventure starts when he bunks his class and runs away to the forest. He shares his secret discovery at the forest with his two buddies, who promptly demand to be taken there. The film, without much ornamentation, hints at doing things which become memorable in life. 

Directed by Zuala Chhangte, the film has been shot in and around the towns of Lunglei, Pukpui, Buangpui in southern Mizoram.

This year’s National Award-winning Best Assamese film The Head Hunter “is about the purity and consciousness of a tribal man towards his habitat” as its director Nilanjan Dutta puts it. Shot in the core area of Nameri Tiger reserve Forest in Assam and rest of it is shot in Bomdilla, Dirang and Tawang of Arunachal Pradesh, The Head Hunter has already made waves with participation in several Indian and International Film festivals.

Eibusu Yaohanbiyu (Let me join you) directed by Maipaksana Haorongbam, notably, drew large footfalls because this winner of National Award for best Manipuri film, has been hailed as a fresh breeze, away from the routine romance found in most Manipuri commercial films. It is about a differently abled boy, Khelemba, who loves to play football.

“My film”, says Maipaksana, “is about overcoming stigma and discrimination attached to the differently abled people…. The physical deformity also represents the stagnant Manipuri culture, neither alive nor dead.”

Apart from this, Dominic Sangma, a well-known director in the North East, who is the first one to put Garo films into the global map, screened his film Rong’kuchak.

Through Ianche, a Garo (one of the main tribe of Meghalaya) poet, the film tries to understand what it feels to be a poet without a written language. 

Says Sangama, “The Garos have their own language but no script to write. Hence, they have been using the English alphabet for centuries now. Ianche, an accomplished poet, finds himself tormented and unable and unwilling to write anymore. He can see his people completely abandoning their culture and he believes that the only way to save himself and them is to author a script”.

This film won the National Award for Best short film in 2014. It competed in many international film festivals and won the Best Artistic film Award in Venice recently.

After watching Romi Meitei’s Colours of Water, which was the winner in the Short Film category, director Imtiaz Ali, who was among those who attended the festival, said, “I wish I could make such a film”.

It is about a talented young musician is encouraged by his family and friends to go for an audition. But he must play before his guru, whom he has to reach after crossing the Loktak lake. But on the way, he realises that someone had kept a gun in his bag in which he carries his musical instrument. People in the boat ask him to sing and play in order to pass the rowing time. He tries but fails due to the fear of the gun. He fails to perform before his guru too and does miserably in the audition too. While he returns failed and dejected, a friend comes to him, and takes the gun from him saying, he had put it in the bag (because no one would doubt him because of his integrity). The shocked boy, after reaching his village, is asked by a friend to sing and not stay sad. The boy is shown singing with heart free and with tears flowing from his eyes!

Says Romi, “My hero indicates hardships in the life of an artist here in Manipur, and that an artist never wins or fails. The gun is symbolic of the disturbances in our state and in the calm life of anyone”.

The runners-up in this category went to Little Hearts, directed by Manas Sagar. It is about a child, who picks up a new-born sparrow from its nest but is full of guilt that he tried to separate the little one from its mother. He and his friends take it upon themselves to take care of the baby sparrow forever.

U thlen by Badeimon Kharshing and Badap K. Lyngdoh, another runners-up, was about a snake bite superstition in Meghalaya.

A path-breaking film Oh My Soul got the best documentary film award in the festival. It dares to talk of the transgender struggle in Nagaland, “about MSMs or men having sex with men, a taboo in the Naga society.” Says Kivin Shohe, its maker, “My film is financed by the Films Division of India. It took me three years to follow my characters.” 

According to Tanushree Hazarika, a young business management graduate from Boston University and brain behind the BVFF. Her aim was to capture the local flavour through the festival, strengthen the legacy and carry it forward. “Our filmmakers lacked a platform to screen their own films in NE to wider audiences, apart from those who matter in the film world outside NE.”  Besides Ali, the festival also saw the presence of Prakash Jha, screen writer Ritesh Shah, production designer Vandana Kataria, and sound designer Amrit Pritam.