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

Delhi Rongali Bihu 2010

Assam Association Delhi invites you to celebrate Rongali Bihu in a grand fashion: 17th April: 6 30 PM onwards North East Festival at IGNCA, 9, Dr Rajendra Prasad Road, New Delhi 110001 Program: Sattriya, NE states dance, music, Bihu etc. 18th April: 6 30 PM onwards Rongali Bihu Festival at IGNCA, 9, Dr Rajendra Prasad Road, New Delhi 110001 Program: Release of 'samayik', Chorus, Huchori, Childrens' Bihu, Bihukunwori/Bihuwa dance, Mishing Bihu, Dewri Bihu, Main Bihu, Mukoli Bihu, Performance ny Guest Artist: Krishnamoni Nath.

Training on preparation of ethnic Assamese delicacies

A two day training programme on preparation of ethnic Assamese snacks and delicacies was inaugurated on 10 April, 2010 by Prateek Hajela, DC , Kaup (Metro) at Handique Girls College. The programme was jointly organized by North East Girl Students Association and North East Development Finance Corporation Ltd (NEDFi) in collaboration with Girl Empowerment ion and Career Guidance and Training Cell of Handique Girls College. The programme was organized with the objective of acquainting the young girls about the various unique technique and skill of preparing various types of ethnic Assamese delicacies including pithas, laddus, baked items etc. About 100 participants from 34 different...

Cambridge fellowship for Assamese journalist

National award winning Youth Assamese Journalist Amarjyoti Borah has been selected for the Wolfson Press Fellowship offered by Cambridge University, United Kingdom. The three month fellowship will start from April 19 and during the course of the fellowship the fellows will research on their selected subject areas. Amarjyoti has already made a mark in the field of Environment Reporting. In 2007 he was adjudged the “Youth Environmental Journalist (print) of the Year” by the Forum of Environment Journalists at New Delhi. Again in 2008 he was among 15 Journalists from Asia, Europe and Africa who were selected for a scholarship to attend a two months advanced training on...

Sattras and Dargahs of Assam - new coffee-table book from Assam

Chord of Harmony: The Sattras & Dargahs of Assam, like the subjects themselves, is actually a reflection of the philosophy of humanism and universal brotherhood propagated by the great saints of Assam, Srimanta Sankardeva and Azaan Pir—a philosophy nurtured and carried forward by the later apostles and followers of both the saints. The Sankardeva movement, spearheaded by the Vaishnavite monasteries called the sattras, not only watered down the system of discrimination on the basis of caste, but also strived to save the society from practices of religious bigotry and untouchability by creating a system of harmonious co-existence. If the sattras remind people of Sankardeva’s...

Ultras arrested

Two NDEB (CF) cadres apprehended by Army near Khoirabari. One 7.62 mm pistol and four rounds recovered.

Bijnan Jeuti completes 44 years

The oldest magazine of Assam, ‘Bijnan Jeuti’ has completed 44 years successfully during this month. This is a popular Assamese science bi-monthly magazine, published by the Assam Science Society. Noted science writer Mowsam Hazarika presently act as an honorary Editor of the magazine.

Mentoring for Entrepreneurship

North East Center for Sustainable Development (NECSD), an organisation committed for the welfare of the people in the region organised one day programme titled as’ Mentoring for Entrepreneurship’. The programme was organised a Batakuchi Janajatiya Sangha near Rihabari in Chaygaon area under Rabha Hasong Council area on 2nd April.. The programme was organised for the woman in the area to impart some training and initial idea on entrepreneurship development. The resource person in the programme were Indrani Tahbildar and Seema Devi from NECSD. They spoke on importance of woman entrepreneurship. Ranjan K Baruah, a social activist spoke on how woman can take part in transforming...

Akhil gets respite as HC grants anticipatory bail

The Gauhati High Court on Monday granted anticipatory bail for KMSS leader Akhil Gogoi who has been implicated in a number of cases. The order of respite was issued as the court was hearing is petition a few days after Dhemaji district administration lodged an FIR against him alleging his role in the recent clash.

Blast in Nagaon - 1 dead

One person died when a powerful IED exploded in Nagaon district of Assam on Saturday. According to information, the explosion took place as Fagu Bhumij, the victim was trying to open an abandoned packet. The packet was picked up by a minor boy as he came to see it lying at the Kondoli firing range. He handed it over to Bhumij who was trying to open it when it exploded with a huge sound. Fagu died on the spot.

Assam stands next to Manipur among unrest states

Manipur tops the unrest state at the height of insurgency till date. Assam stands next to Manipur in terms of insurgency. According to a report by union home ministry, the two north eastern state has witnessed 150 incidents of violence in last three months, claiming 100 lives. The report reads: 77 extremists, 20 civilians and three security force personnel have been killed during this period. It further has it that altogether, 105 people were killed in six Northeastern states -- Assam, Manipur, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh -- till last month in 174 incidents. Mizoram had no major insurgency and was comparatively a peaceful state. In 2009, 435 people, including 81...