North-East Film Festival should become a People’s movement; Government committed to promote quality cinema and young talent from the region – Rajyavardhan Rathore

North-East Film Festival should become a People’s movement

Government committed to promote quality cinema and young talent from the region – Rajyavardhan Rathore

 Minister inaugurates three day North East film festival

Minister of State for I&B, Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore has said that the Government intended to make the North East Film Festival, a ‘People’s Movement’ which would become better with each passing year.  The Government remained committed to promote and facilitate popular cinema of the North East so that a long lasting brand equity to the films of the region could be established through such events and film festivals.  Such events also acted as a catalyst to strengthen the talent across platforms from the region.  The Minister stated this while delivering his address at the inaugural ceremony of the three days festival here today. 

Elaborating further, the Minister mentioned that the films from the North East always attracted attention in International Film Festivals and in academic circles for their canvas of human emotions and their reflections of society. The increase in representation of cinema at such events was definitely a healthy sign of growing culture of cinema in the region. It also reiterated the willingness of creative artists to venture in the medium of cinema. He further mentioned that the creative talent from the region had been regularly winning national and international awards, and travelling to prestigious international festivals over the decades.

During his address the Minister specifically mentioned that the I&B Ministry had undertaken special measures to promote the flow of quality information in the region through the Prasar Bharati network.  The current FM Phase III auction had earmarked 15 channels for bidding which would enable the growth of radio in the region in the private FM domain.  The Minister highlighted the measures being taken to promote quality education in the field of journalism through the Indian Institute of Mass Communication currently at Aizawal.  He also mentioned that efforts were being made to fast track the process of establishing the Film making institute at Arunachal Pradesh.  This initiative was part of the overall vision to promote and strengthen youth talent from the North-Eastern Region.   Minister for State for Youth Affairs & Sports, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal in his address mentioned that such festivals showcased the youth talent of the region and reiterated the cinematic legacy of the region.  Secretary (I&B) Shri Bimal Julka mentioned that the initiative was part of the vision to promote cinema as medium of creative expression especially from the North East Region.

The inaugural ceremony today witnessed the premiere screening of Manipuri feature film ‘Pallepfam’ which is directed & produced by Shri WanglenKhundongban which is also his debut film. The screening was preceded by three cultural shows that will had the Hojagiri Dance troupe from Tripura, DholPungCholam Dance troupe from Manipur and The Girish and Chronicles, a Hard Rock Band from Sikkim. In order to provide a complete flavour of the region to the visitors, film screenings will be supplemented by cultural programmes, exhibitions of handicrafts and books, food stalls and much more during the festival.

The Directorate of Film Festival under the aegis of Ministry of Information & Broadcasting is organising the three day festival “Fragrances of the North-eastern films”.  The festival provides a platform to cine lovers to view films from the North East. The festival is being held at the Siri Fort Auditorium Complex from August 21^st – 23^rd, 2015.

The festival also includes a retrospective of maestro Shri AribamSyam Sharma from Manipur. Six films including two feature films Ishanou and ImagiNingthem and four non feature films titled Orchids of Manipur, The Deer on The Lake, Indigenous Games of Manipur and YelhouJagoi will be screened in the retrospective. 

Apart from the retrospective the film Ko:Yad by eminent film maker from Assam Manju Borah will be showcased. While Tribeny Rai’s films ‘Yathawat’ and “Last Rites” from Sikkim will be presented, ‘Maithya’ directed by Shri Joseph Pulinthanath and ‘Crossing Bridges’ by ‘Sanga DorjeeThongdok will give a glimpse of Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh.

A bouquet of short films from Meghalaya “Karyukai” and Rong’ Kuchak directed by DomnicSangma and from Nagaland  documentary titled ‘The Honey Hunter And The Maker’ directed by Tiainla Jamir  and Story of a House directed by SesinoYhoshu&SophyLasuh will also be presented.

The closing film of the festival will be ‘AisaYehJahaan’ on August 23.

           

The highlights of the cultural component of the three day festival are as follows:

Hojagiri (Tripura)

Hojagiri is a folk dance, performed in the state of Tripura by the Reang people. It is performed by women and young girls, singing, balancing on an earthen pitcher and managing other props such as a bottle on the head and earthen lamp on the hand, while only the lower half of the body is moved.

The dance is performed on the occasion of Hojagiri festivals or Laxmi Puja, held in the following full moon night of Durga Puja generally after 3rd day of Dashera. The Goddess Mailuma, (Laxmi) is worshipped on this day.

The male members participate in singing the lyric, playing the Kham and Sumui (Kshumu). The lyrics are very simple. Required for the dance are, a BAILING, a wide circular rice cleaning article made of cane, a pitcher or kalash, a bottle, a hous hold traditional lamp, a plain dish and a handkerchief for each performer.

DholPungCholom (Manipur)

The Pungcholom is a Manipuri dance. It is the soul of Manipuri Sankirtana music and Classical Manipuri dance. The PungCholom is a unique classical dance of Manipur. This dance may be performed by men or women. In this style, the dancers play the pung (a form of hand beaten drum) while they dance at the same time. Dancers need to be graceful and acrobatic at the same time. They use these acrobatic effects without breaking the rhythm or flow of music. The dance is marked by a gentle rhythm, which gradually builds up to a thunderous climax. Pungcholom borrows elements from the Manipuri martial arts Thang Ta and SaritSarak and also from the traditional MaibiJagoi dance.

Girish and The Chronicles (Sikkim)

Girish and The Chronicles (commonly abbreviated as GATC) is an Indian Hard rock/Heavy Metal band from Gangtok, Sikkim, formed in 2009, by the Singer-Songwriter/Vocalist Girish Pradhan. Presently based in Bengaluru, Karnataka, GATC is a four member band, known for their electrifying live shows. Heavily influenced from bands such as Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Deep Purple, Iron Maiden,Guns and Roses. GATC has been touring the country and overseas for more than 5 years now, although the line-up has existed since 2006 but was known as Revolving Barrel. After having released numerous singles onlinesince 2009, The band released its first official album on June 2014 under Universal Music Group. The band is known for its peculiar Classic Hard Rock/Heavy Metalsound influenced from the bands of'70s/'80s era. GATC is known to be the first and the only band from Sikkim to ever have travelled/performed overseas and toured on a national scale.

Courtesy: pib.nic.in