A two-day second edition of Nagaland Film Festival organized by Directorate of Information and Public Relations, Nagaland in collaboration with Film Association of Nagaland with Nagaland Chief Secretary, Temjen Toy gracing the valedictory programme as special guest at Capital Convention Centre, Kohima concluded on Friday.
Special guest in his address said the film making in Nagaland is still in the nascent stage with huge conservative, however with lots of creative mind. Acknowledging the presence of budding film makers in the state who need lots of support, he said the government is playing an active role as facilitator. He expressed the need to have one theatre in the state capital for which he sought the support of everyone. Toy opined that the film festival of Nagaland would grow from strength to strength and it would encourage the passionate and talented youth in the field of film making. He challenged the gathering to make the Nagaland and North East one of the destiny for film making in future.
In non-fiction film competition, the Best Film was bagged by “Nawa-spirit of Atey” the documentary film from Manipur. This film is about a prologue life of a 13-year-old trans boy from Manipur. It explores the lives of indigenous trans Atey, their lived experiences, the challenges they faced and how their families and the larger community negotiate with their own biases to give a better life to their trans children.
In fiction, the Best Film was bagged by “Fade in” (Assam) which is about the attempt to make a short film doe a film festival; a young group of film enthusiasts finds out that film making is not as glamorous as it looks. Both fiction and non-fiction received Rs. 50,000 each with trophies and certificates.
The Special Mention Film was bagged by “Strength in Diversity” of Nagaland; a film about the filmmaker’s grandmother who grows stress-resistant crops also received certificate and trophy. Chief Secretary gave away prizes to the winners.
Day session was marked by master class with executive director Centre for Cultural Research & Documentary, Moji Riba and director ‘Axone’ Nicholas Lemtur Kharkongor.
In the evening, the panel discussion was held with director and producer of Bloody Phanex Sonia Nepram, founder/president of Documentary Resource Initiative Nilotpal and film facilitation officer (eastern region) National Film Development Corporation of India Alexander Pou, hosted by festival director Yapangnaro Longkumer.
The valedictory function was chaired by Sophy Lasuh film maker, vote of thanks proposed by director IPR, Limawati. The winning films were screened after the award prize distribution.
The film festival was attended by FAN members, IPR officials, delegates from Sikkim, Manipur, Meghalaya, Assam, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Sweden, and others.