Share
Organisers posing for photograph after the closing ceremony of the second Nagaland Film Festival held in Kohima on Nov. 1 (EM Images)[/caption]
Kohima, capital town of Nagaland, may not have the luxury of having a film theatre till date, but this may change soon as the state government is said to be facilitating at least one theatre.
Nagaland Chief Secretary Temjen Toy on Friday said that the state government has a “very important role to play” in the growth of film making in the state.
Starting from now, he said that the government will play “more active role of a facilitator” to support local film makers. He went on to add that the government of Nagaland will “facilitate in heaving at least one theatre”.
However, to realise such dream, it cannot happen without the support of Film Association of Nagaland (FAN) and Information of Public Relations & Information, he added.
The chief secretary was speaking during the closing ceremony of the second Nagaland Film Festival held at the Capital Convention Centre in Kohima on Nov. 1.
The two-day long film festival was organised by the department of Information & Public Relations in collaboration with FAN.
Saying that film industry pulls all types of talents in a person, he asked the organisers to encourage budding filmmakers. “We have a huge conservatory of creative minds in the state”, he added.
When compared with other north eastern states, Nagaland is at a nascent stage in film making. He urged the young film makers to take advantage of similar platforms and help make Nagaland a destination of film making.
One of the panellists Nilotpal Majumdar, who is also the founder and president of Documentary Resource Initiative said, the primary responsibility, is to have a theatre — at least two film theatres is required to support local film makers. If unable to screen local films at proper ambience, it will not encourage the film making in Nagaland, he said.
A firm foundation is the pre-requisite to encourage local film makers. Unless there is a foundation there is no scope to really help the film makers, he said.
He suggested that a sort of foundation in the form of fund or grants should be initiated to support the film makers.
A total of 26 films in the categories of fictions and non-fictions were screened during the two-day festival.
An Assamese short movie ‘Fade In’, directed by Ankurjyoti Deka was declared as the winner of fiction category and received a cash award of INR 50K. The movie is about a young group of film enthusiasts who finds out that filmmaking is not as glamorous as it looks.
For non-fiction category, ‘Nawa – Spirit of Atey’, a story about a 13-year-old trans boy from Manipur who faced with lives challenges for who he is, emerged winner beating other five non-fiction films. The 9 minute and 23 seconds documentary which was directed by Santa Kuria and Amar Maibam won a cash award of INR 50K.
Meanwhile, a special mention was made to one of the documentary ‘Strength in Diversity’ produced by Chentei Khiamniungan. The documentary portrays the need for preserving biological resources.
(Our Correspondent)