Skip to content Skip to navigation

Tripura film bags first National Film Award

By editor |

Internationally acclaimed Kokborok film YARWNG (Roots) won the first national film award for Tripura at 56th National Film Awards (2008) held at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, 19 March, 2010. The President of India Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil handed over the medal and certificate to Don Bosco priests Joseph Kizhakechennadu (producer) and Fr. Joseph Pulinthanath (director) for their second feature film.


Pulinthanath dressed in white cassock and Kizhakechennadu in his preferred saffron lungi and half-sleeved white kurta were among 52 film award winners of 2008, including high-profile Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra and the doyen of Indian Cinematography V.K. Murthy who was awarded country’s highest honor in cinema - the Dada Saheb Phalke Award.


Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting, Smt. Ambika Soni and Dr. S. Jagathrakshakan, Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting, and other officials accompanied the President.


Accent on People’s Cinema


The award winning 95 minute film Yarwng (Roots) tells the story of large-scale displacement of tribal people that took place in the tiny Northeastern state when a hydel project was set up there in the late 1970s. Yarwng was the opening film at the prestigious Indian Panorama section of the 39th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Panaji, Goa, November 2008.


According to the filmmakers, the script of Yarwng emerged from the numerous encounters they held with displaced people in the sanctity of their ramshackle homes. “All the incidents and emotional turmoil we see in the film were etched in the subconscious psyche of the people. All we did was to get close to them and feel their stories as they recalled them with looks, sighs, tears and also words,” recalled the priest director and winner of national and international awards.


“Although the technical team came from Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) and the support team from Guwahati (Assam), the best part of the production was the involvement of the local people,” says producer Kizhakechennadu who claims cinematic traditions from his legendary relative John Abraham, a genius in Malayalam cinema and founder of a people's cinema movement called Odessa.


All the artistes and production hands were from Tripura state including noted actors Meena Debbarma who plays the lead role of Karmati, Amulya Ratan Jamatia, Nirmal Jamatia and Surabhi Debbarma.


Yarwng has traveled throughout India and has been screened in major cities around the world including New York, Brisbane, Moscow, Taipei, Stuttgart and Dhaka.


Yarwng also won a Special Jury Mention Award at the 3rd Eye Asian film festival held in Mumbai in 2008.


The film, part-financed by Church organizations – Missio Germany, Signis and the Salesian Congregation is also a compelling testament to the commitment of the Church and the Don Bosco Society to preservation of local, indigenous cultures and people.


C.M. Paul, New Delhi

Comments

KOUSHIK HAZARIKA's picture

Submitted by KOUSHIK HAZARIKA on Sat, 27/03/2010 - 07:06
In the year of the brilliant Samson and Delilah, BIFF will bring a stream of films by or about Indigenous people, called Colourise films. These include The Inheritors, which documents rural Mexico, capturing the dignity and humanity of people in the face of incredible exploitation. Both Roots and Birdwatchers tell a universal story of displacement from land and culture.

Pages

Add new comment

Other Contents by Author

ULFA guns down surrendered colleagues

ULFA’s Paresh Baruah faction once again makes its strong presence felt in Dibrugarh district on Friday killing a surrendered militant. The anti-talk faction of the outfit shot dead one of their former colleague Tileswar Lahon at sensational shoot out in the evening. The incident took place at Moran where four unidentified youths born in motorcycle shot dead Lahon from a point blank range near his residence near Moran. Lahon fell seriously injured on the ground before the youths vanished from the scene. He was rushed to the Assam Medical College Hospital but was declared brought dead. Police later, recovered an empty cartage from the spot. Hours after the incident, ULFA’s Paresh...

State Level Art Competition on the Children's Day

People's Friend Foundation will celebrate the Children's Day on 14th of November, 2011 with a colourful programme. On that Occasion, an Art Competition will be held among students which will be held in three categories. First: Age group 5-8 years, Second:Age group 9-12 years, Third: Age group13-16 years. Winners will get attractive prizes and certificates. Rather, all participants will get Certificate of Participation. Students will have to produce Age proof certificate to join in the competition. The competition will be open to students from any part of the State. For Details, Students and Guardians are requested to contact over phone at 97069-28780, email at pff.india@gmail.com or at...

Melting Jima Yangzong threatens downstream people

Zima Yangzong glacier the prime source of the Brahmaputra (or Tsangpo) is retreating like some other Himalayan glaciers attributed to the global warming. Chinese expert on Himalayan Mountain and Tsangpo Dr. Yang Yong said during an interview in Kathmandu (Nepal) last week. He said that if global warming continues at current rate the glacier as well as other glaciers in that same height will disappear within few decades and the river which is called Yarlung Zangbo in China will be a seasonal river. There would be no water or might be a lean water flow during the winter. According to UN climate-change experts, the melting of Himalayan glaciers threatens 1.3 billion Asians. Over a billion...

GNRC Heath-Camp at Guwahati Press Club

The city based GNRC Hospitals in association with Guwahati Press Club has organized a Free Screening Camp for Detection and Prevention of Stroke on October 29, 2011 at the press club campus. The health camp that is open for all media persons will start at 10 am and culminate at 2 pm. “One in every six person will suffer from Stroke in his or her lifetime. That is a certainty. This means every family has the risk of having a Stroke incident in this world. But, it is also a fact that people are still not aware about this devastating disease,” says Dr N C Borah, Chairman cum Managing Director, GNRC Hospitals. He also added that 70% of the Strokes are preventable. By creating...

Assam student killed in Chennai group clash

A student from Assam died at a group clash in Tamil Nadu on Monday. Two groups of students from Assam and Bihar clashed with each other at night near Annamalai University in Chidambaram district. The clash broke out on Monday night where Dharupa Joth Dhatha was killed. The a third-year engineering student died when he was attacked with deadly weapons near the university. Two students of the university, including one from Bihar, has been arrested in this connection.

Talks positive, Centre keen: Rajkhowa

ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa on Tuesday pinned hopes on Centre’s goodwill and relentless efforts to find out an amicable solution to the insurgency problem plaguing Assam and its peole. Talking to mediapersons immediately after holding the tripartite meet with the Centre in Delhi Rajkhowa said the Centre was cordial and organized a positive talks where they have had a point-by-point discussion on their charter of demands. The outfit’s foreign secretary Sashadhar Choudhury reiterated that they did not attend the peace talks with arms. He said, “ULFA will not tell you where our cadres have kept the arms.’’ This was what he told when asked if the ULFA...

ULFA discusses major demands with Centre

A six member delegation of the United Liberation Front of Asom discussed its charter of demands with the Centre in yet another crucial rounds of talks on Tuesday. Led by chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa, the team held talks with the home ministry officials including joint secretary attached to the north east Sambhu Singh at 3 in the afternoon. Apart from the charter of demands ULFA placed before the Union home minister P Chidambaram in August, several other issues came up for discussion on Tuesday in presence of centre’s peace interlocutor P C Haldar. These include observance of ground rules, signed by both sides, surrender of arms and ammunition and total halt of operations by security...

Gogoi seeks more founds

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi urges the Centre to pump in more fund to help its economy improve. Addressing the National Development Council meeting in Delhi on Saturday, he said economic prosperity was crucial to root out insurgency in Assam. Gogoi said attitudinal change is what the state needs to ensure the speedy process of development. “A holistic approach coupled with an effective implementation and monitoring mechanism is key to help the economy of the state grow on par with rest of the country,” he said.. Gogoi sought special emphasise on strengthening of road, rail and aerial network in Assam during the 12th Plan period after he identified lack of adequate...

Devastating fire in Guwahati

Properties worth ten lakhs have been reduced to ashes when a devastating fire broke out in Guwahati city on Saturday. The incident took place at Solapara area near Paltanbazar police station where seven houses have been ravaged rendering 8 families homeless. The fire broke out immediately after two LPG cylinders exploded in the morning. Fire tenders rushed to the spot but by then the fire engulfed as many as seven houses. There is no report of any casualty.

1 missing in Guwahati rain waters; residents stage demo

Local residents in large number staged demonstration in Guwahati on Saturday demanding permanent solution to the artificial floods causing utter chaos in the city on Friday where one person was washed away in the Zoo Road in the afternoon. The incident took place at around 4 in the afternoon where Binoy Mohan Das, a resident of Panjabari area was on his way to home where he was remained stranded due to neck-deep water logging in the RG Baruah road 30 minutes after the heavy downpour that lashed the city for one hours. A Maruti car was partially buried I landslip in Kahilipara where the driver managed to escape his death. Rainwaters are receding gradually in Lachitnagar, Nabin Nagar,...