Connecting Northeast to the World through Cinema: NE enters new era of Film Making
"Cinema is universal, beyond flags and borders and passports" — Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Northeast India, a region which is linguistically and culturally diverse, has so many stories to tell and thanks to some creative minds, these stories are now travelling to almost every film festival in the world, showcasing the originality and uniqueness of the region.
Hence,it is safe to say that Northeast is artistically blooming, if not in full bloom; The region is seeing some changes in asfar as creative art is concerned. Directors and filmmakers of the region arenow leaping forward into another cinematic era.
From internationally and nationally acclaimed filmmakers like Rima Das, Pradip Kurbah, Manju Borah to Dominic Sangma, Bobby Sarma Baruah, Nicholas Kharkongor and others, Northeast has it all.
And the recently concluded Kelvin Cinema Film Festival held in Shillong is a testimony to the potentiality that the region has in the field of film-making and the art of story-telling.
TNT-The Northeast Today spoke to some of the renowned film makers of the region on the growth and evolution of cinema in Northeast and this is what they have to say.
GROWTH OF CINEMA IN NORTHEAST
RIMA DAS:
This is great time for Northeast; we are doing really well; Earlier, film-making was an expensive business and only the privileged used to make films but with the access to digital media, now anyone with passion, can make movies. We are so diverse; Northeast has so many languages; our culture is so rich and original; so many places are still unexplored, we have lots of contents here and lots of filmmakers are coming up, they are putting in so much effort to make movies; they are really doing well; This is an interesting time and in another five years, I think we are going to make lots of movies; Also with the internet, everything is global unlike before when the world don't even know the existence of our region.
(Rima Das is a self taught filmmaker, a national and international award winning director from Assam, best known for her movie: Bulbul Can Sing and Village Rockstars, which was selected as India's official entry to the 91st Academy Awards)
DOMINIC SANGMA:
This is the best time for Northeast filmmakers; we have lots of talent in Meghalaya and Northeast; there are many short films from different parts of India which are being screened in this festival (Kelvin Cinema Festival), showing the different varieties of films and some of them that you see here, went to some of the best film festivals in the world. Most of these films have travelled the world and these festivals have opened up avenues for young film makers to screen their movies; And what is more interesting is the ability to tell people of the endless possibilities of making your film, shot in this corner of the world and make it universal; It also serves as an inspiration and encouragement to young film makers to open up to the general public and audience, to see different kinds of films.
(Dominic Sangma is a National award winning director from Meghalaya, best known for his Garo film — MA.AMA)
MANJU BORAH:
Throughoutmy 23 years journey in this field, I have realized that in Northeastern region,we have lots of hidden talents, lots of subjects and slowly I can feel that thenew generation is coming up with new ideas which are becoming very popularglobally; there are many films produced and directed by our local filmmakerswhich have created an impact in this field because of the subjects and thedifferent stories they tell; gone are those days when local films are but amere copy of mainstream cinema; now we produce original subjects. I hope allthe new generation filmmakers will come up with ideas where we can see andlearn about our own land, our own people.
(Manju Bora is an International and National award winning director from Assam, best known for her film – In The Land of Poisonous Woman – which won the best feature film in Pangchenpa (local dialect of Arunachal Pradesh))
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BOBBY SARMA BARUAH:
Thefilm industry is indeed growing in the Northeast; new directors and new moviesare coming up which is a good sign for us as northeastern movie makers; Thetime is right for young filmmakers to come out and tell your stories, becausethere are so many areas to be covered and so many stories to tell. Having beenin this field for some time now, I can say that I am privileged and honoured tomake a movie based on the life and culture of the indigenous tribes of theNortheast which is I believe is tantamount to any effort to preserve the richcultures and traditions of the local tribes of the region.
(Booby Sarma Baruah is a National award winning director from Assam, best known for her film – Mishing – which won the Rajat Kamal award for the best Sherdukpan film. (Sherdukpan is an ethnic group of Arunachal Pradesh))
PRADIP KURBAH:
Wehave brilliant, upcoming film makers in the state and the region. Northeast hasgreat potential; Yes it is an interesting time for cinema in the Northeast and Ithink it is more important for us to tell our stories, the unheard stories fromthe region; No matter which ever language the film is, at the end of the day,it is the emotional connection that matters. It is very important to note thatthe story, its content plays a crucial role in the success of your film.
(Pradip Kubah is a National and International award winning director from Meghalaya, best known for his Khasi films — Onaatah and Iewduh)
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CHALLANGES FACED BY LOCAL FILMMAKERS
Challengesare everywhere, said Rima Das butthat doesn't mean filmmakers will stop making movies."If you're passionateenough to make a difference, you can; I want to tell everyone, all new comersthat it is all possible; If I can do it, you can also do it" said Rima.
Infrastructure:It depends on the subject matter, said Rima adding that the kinds of film sheis making is very different from mainstream cinema. "It is possible tomake movies with minimum resources and this is evident from the officialselection of Village Rockstar in the Oscar and winning the nationalaward," she stated.
Itmay be mentioned that Rima Das shot the internationally acclaimed "VillageRockstars" with one camera — Cannon 5D Mark II, one lens, only with thehelp of her cousin sister. "Northeast needs more platforms and it ishappening also; it will take some time but it will move forward in the rightdirection," she added.
Lack of theatres:Dominic Sangma said Meghalaya needsmore theatres for the local movies to be screened. "Sadly, apart fromShillong, anywhere else in the state we don't have theatres; in Garo Hills whenI was screening my movie (MA.AMA) in Tura, we didn't have a screen, we had tofix our own screen, our own projector; if some focus could be given to thataspect like coming up with 150 seater theatres in every district headquarters,that will be really helpful," he said.
Meanwhile, an optimistic Pradip Kurbah, while admitting the difficulties due to lack of theatres, however, said, "If people in the rural areas can't come to the theatres in the city to watch my movies, then I can go to them; after all my Khasi movies are made for them, if they don't watch it, how can I expect the rest of the world to watch it."
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Film Policy: Weneed a film policy to support the upcoming and talented film makers just likein Assam, said Manju Borah addingthat the Assam government has done a lot for the film industry. "We have apolicy in place to help the film makers and I think Meghalaya and othernortheastern states should also come up with similar policy to boost theindustry which we all know is creating such a massive impact other than generatingrevenue and employment."
"Ithink we need a policy to support upcoming film makers; without a policy, itwill be very difficult for any filmmaker to survive
Marketing:We need the right platform to ensure that our stories reach out to many people,said Bobby Sarma adding, "Wehave so much potential and talents in the Northeast but we need guidance andplatforms to tell our stories to the world."
WHAT IS CINEMA ALL ABOUT?
Rima Das:The ability to tell the story right, ensuring that it touches people's hearts. Theonly thing that matters is the ability to understand the language of theprofession. If you tell a good story, nobody bothers how you shot the film,what technology you used; it's a universal language, its impact is universal.
Dominic Sangma: Cinema is about emotion, how we honed our skills of story-telling; We need to look at what image are we creating; to develop the understanding of image – the nuances and essence, who we are as a person because this way, people can connect with the emotions portrayed in the movies. The way we perceived ideas also need to change with time; There can be two types of rockets; the one that burns during Diwali or New Year and diminishes or the one we launch and let it orbit; we need to launch our stories and let the whole world know about it. Every emotion is universal, it's just how we portray those emotions.
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Anyfilm makers, anyone who truly believe they want to make films, they need noadvice or push, they will come and do it, nobody can stop them; I think theyonly need to find out whether they really want to be in this art or not.
Manju Borah:I know that cinema has no geographical barriers; It is a powerful tool thatunites and binds people irrespective of their caste, creed, sex, religion orbeliefs and with our own stories we can break all boundaries and make themuniversal.
A LITTLE ABOUT KELVIN CINEMA – FESTIVAL OF FILMS 2019:
TheFestival is named after the famous Kelvin Cinema hall in Meghalaya and theNortheast. It was a sucessful cinema hall in SHillong run by Jeevan Ram Goenka,father of philantropist, Shankar Lall Goenka, and is being presented by JeevanRam Mungi Devi Goenka Public Chartible Trust. It is the 'first film festival' inMeghalaya being organized by a local trust.
It aims at raising the standard of film making in the state of Meghalaya and it is being supported by the Arts Cine Entertainment Society (ACES) and Federation of Film Societies of India (FFSI). It also seeks to encourage the entreprenuers of the film industry in the Northeast to come up with new exciting ideas that will contribute towards the development of film industry and the state.
