Our Correspondent
KOHIMA, NOVEMBER 4
Two short documentaries produced by Naga filmmakers-‘The Story of a House’ (Sophy Lasuh Kesiezie and Sesino Yhoshü Dimasha) and a DIPR film ‘The Naga Diary: Journey to Statehood’ produced by Tiainla Jamir- were screened today alongside several award winning films on the second day of the ongoing Documentary Film Festival here at the State Academy Hall, Kohima.
Tuesday’s young audience took well to ‘The Story of a House’ which highlights about the house belonging to an Angh in Longwa village built literally on the either side of the Indo-Myanmar border.
“This is very interesting, I never knew about this house…and I never thought such a short film could be enlightening and entertaining,” says Lanu, a high school student who accompanied his friend to the event. “It is so cool that the documentary is about our people and made by our own people,” he added.
Another student who sat through three documentaries said, “I liked all of them but ‘The Story of a House’ was nice and funny in a way.”
Although the turnout was a little lesser than the first day of the festival, the organizers expressed enthusiasm that there has been a huge response particularly from students of different educational institutions in Kohima.
Film & Cultural Society of North East secretary, Rahul Jain, who is also a curator, said the documentaries that were selected for screening at the three-day festival were award winning documentaries containing educational values, which the locals and the youth can relate to. “Documentaries are an essential tool for education and building character and it brings changes to the society,” he asserted and added that the NGO looks forward to young filmmakers emerging from Nagaland.
Jain also informed that more short documentaries by Naga filmmakers are set to be screened on Wednesday.
Kuzote Nuh, a young music producer and an aspiring filmmaker feels that the rest of the world is moving forward in the field of art and entertainment and it is time for Nagas to catch up with them.
While saying that the state’s economy may have its own constraints, he observes that art and entertainment are definitely a part of the Naga people’s lives. He also opined that more film enthusiasts should have turned up at the film festival. We consider ourselves intellectuals and there is no dearth of talent in our people but we lack in exposure, he stated. He feels that people should experience such events being organized on their doorsteps and young people should be encouraged to pursue professional studies in filmmaking.
As per the event registration figures, 472 people attended the festival today. The Kohima Documentary Film Festival is being organized by the Film & Cultural Society of North East in collaboration with Indian Documentary Producers’ Association and supported by government of Nagaland, Japan Foundation and Polish Institute (New Delhi).
On Wednesday, multiple national and international award-winning film director Jahnu Barua will be the special guest, wherein One Crazy Ride (Gaurav Jani), Chitranjali: Stefan Norbin in India (Malgorzata Skiba), Chess Players (Stephan Hilpert), Brokering News (Umesh Agarwal) and Sound from the Soul are scheduled to be screened with few documentaries by Naga filmmakers.
Also as part of the festival, a basic camera workshop will be conducted by Gautam Bora, a national award winner, to 60 selected participants at Hotel Japfü, Kohima on Wednesday.
