Two out of three entries from Nagaland have won awards at the 12th edition of ADDA Short Film Festival held at Jyoti Chitraban Film Studio, Guwahati from December 10-11.
‘Oh my Soul!’ exploring everyday challenges of the transgender community by Kivini Shohe won Best Documentary Film while a collaborative effort ‘Songs of Marbles’ (credited to Tiakumzuk Aier) jointly won the Best Films Honours along with ‘The Poster’ directed by Ashif Khan of Punjab.
‘Songs of Marbles’ is a metaphoric representation of the menace of extortion in the society using the game of marbles.
Another film from Nagaland, ‘Blissful’ by Bendang Walling was also among the 20 films selected for competition at the festival.
The jury comprising of renowned film makers Gautam Bora and Bhaskarjyoti Das along with writer Manikuntala Bhattacharya selected the films for the competition for fiction, documentary and animation.
‘Aborohan’ directed by Bijan Bikash Brahma won Jury’s Special Mention while a new category instituted this year - Best Cinematography was bagged by Amio Ranjan Das for ‘Little Hearts’
According to the organiser, this year more than 50 films came for the competition section with entries not only from India but also from Abu Dhabi, Bangladesh, Italy and Nepal.
‘Gudh’, India’s only entry into this year’s Cannes Film Festival had a special screening in the festival along with ‘93 Not Out’, ‘Tezpur 1962’, ‘Kokar Kand’, ‘Little City’, ‘Blues’ etc.
Talking to The Morung Express about the ‘Songs of Marbles,’ Tiakumzuk Aier said that though his name was credited for entry into the festival, the film was collaborative effort of 9 people conceptualized during a nine-day filmmaking workshop organized by Films Division of India in Dimapur, Nagaland in October 2015.
Using marbles as a metaphor, the film explores the nuances of extortion by exploring its various facets, he added.
It was also part of a special package from Northeast presented at the 14th Mumbai International Film Festival which happened from January 28 – February 3, 2016.
Besides bieng invited to various festivals, Shohe’s ‘O My Soul’ had bagged Best Documentary Film at the Northeast Film Festival 2016, held in Itanagar in February.
ADDA is the first ever short film festival in the whole Northeast region of India started by group of young independent filmmakers, cine technicians and some veteran film personalities from Assam for promoting alternative, new and creative cinema in the region.
(Morung Express News)
