Loneliness of elders, human affection, youth aspiration, environmental introspection and natural patriotism flavour enriched the visual feast for film buffs for two days during the 8th Chalachitram National Film Festival – 2024 in the prehistoric city of Guwahati. Organized by Chalachitram, a subsidiary of Vishwa Samvad Kendra Assam, With an aim to foster nationalism through annual film-works and paying homage to thousands of years of Indian civilization, culture and heritage, the film-fest at Jyoti Chitraban premises showcased 50 documentary and short feature films in both the completion and only screening categories. Curtain came down for the annual event on 27 October with honouring Jaswandha as best movie in the rest of India category and A Sylvan Saga in the north-eastern club.
Directed by Shoneel Yallattikar and produced by Noopur Lidbide, Nishad Kulkarni & Shoneel, Jaswandha revolves around the story of an aged couple living in an urbanized location with melancholy but hoping for some refreshing experience with the arrival of monsoon. Brilliantly cast by veteran actors Neena Kulkarni and Mohan Joshi, the short feature impressed both the audience and jury members. On the other hand, A Sylvan Saga narrates the struggling tale of a baby single-horn rhinoceros, which was rescued from a tea garden near Kaziranga National Park and raised for trans-locating in Manas National Park for her future productive life. Produced and directed by Jyoti Prasad Das, the docu-feature inherently narrates the success story for protection of rhinos and other wildlife in Assam. An artist and film-maker by profession, JP Das also received the best director’s award.
The best screenplay award went to Abhijit Nayak for Wrong Number (directed by Bijit Borgohain, the short film narrates the story of a widower who tried to explore an unknown child telephone caller but ended up returning to his solitary life again with a new realization). Angsuman Barua & Pradip Ch Sarma received the best cinematography awards for Aadi Shakti Maa Kamakhya (directed by PC Sarma, the documentary throws light on the history and legends of Shaktipeeth Kamakhya atop Nilachal hills on the southern bank of majestic Brahmaputra river) jointly with Chida Bora and Sarpil Nandan Deka for Teens Of 1942 (directed by Samiran Deka, the documentary revered the sacrifice of known & unknown martyrs of India’s freedom movement).
Bhaskar Jyoti Bhuyan was awarded for best editing in Birubala-The Fearless Crusader (directed by Dhiraj Kashyap, the short film portrays the relentless struggles initiated by social activist Birubala Rabha to erase the social stigma relating to the witch hunting in Assam). Jury’s special mention went to Devajani Halder directed A Letter To My Home, which deals with homelessness, mental health and the age-old socio-cultural hegemony in Indian society, which needs to be redefined.
The awardees were honoured with cash prizes, trophies and certificates during in the closing ceremony by distinguished cine-personalities like Assam’s evergreen celluloid queen Mridula Barua, eminent film makers Atul Gangowar, Santosh Pathare, Sanskar Desai, Jadumani Dutta, Oinam Gautam, etc. Ms Barua lit the sacred lamp in front of Bharat Mata’s portrait. Gangowar in his speech stated that the movies should not split (but unite) and the filmmaking endeavour must not end up in earning money with little commitment to the society.
The film-fest with central theme ‘Our Heritage Our Pride’ encompassed issues like Social Awareness, Family System, Women, Environment, Land & People, Tourism, Arts, Handicrafts & Textiles, Manuscript & Manuscript Paintings, Painting & Woodcarving, Music and Musicians, Cultural Festivals, Sports, Monuments & Heritage sites, Social Reformers & Pioneers, Culture & Values, Tea & Oil Industries, etc. Dedicated for the committed movie-goers, the event attracted a large number of young and aspiring film-makers, who enjoyed the entries and they brainstormed on film-crafts on the campus, established in memory of the region’s pioneer filmmaker Rupkonwar Jyotiprasad Agarwala.
The Last Generation, directed by Prabal Khaund, was screened as the inaugural film of CNFF-24. A number of interesting movies were selected for the competition category like Prayojan (directed by Krishna Das), The Butcher (by Tashi Wangshu MJ), Journey With A Dance Form (by Pranjal Pratim Chetia), Heaven On The Earth (by Prasanta Kalita), Rising Sunbirds (by Sudeshna Gupta), The Caretaker (by Biswajit Das) and Missing Cuisine (by Pranjal Pratim Chetia). On the other hand, Being Bald (by Krishna Das), Garishali (by Ashomi Sarma), Bichitra (by Tuhin Kanya Bora), Destination (by Dipak Kumar Roy) and Ekaki (by Rupam Jyoti Malakar) were screened in non- competition category of the north-eastern section.
Outside the region category included My National Flag (by Sweta Kumar Dash), Shashwatam (by Monaksh N Kanirkar), Nimbu Mirchi (by Atul Subhashrao Camble), Tiny World (by Shashidhar Kote), Sundarban (by Arindam Konar & Shyam sundar Paul), Bhookh (by Saaikat Bagbaan), Yes Sir (by Mohit Singhal), Multi (by Mrunal Mestri), The Waiting (by Lalit Kr Jha & Sumit Kohli), Minus (by Aritra Das), Uma (by Abanti Sinha), The Village Of Masks (by Ritabrita Mitra), Promise (by Ravikant Narayan), Rainbow Classroom (by Madhurjya Alankaar), Bin Boy (by Bauddhayan Mukherji) and The Last Talk (by Ashish Thakur) in the competition category.
The non- competition category comprised Gods of Clay – Matir Thakur (by Amit Bhattacharjee), Reserve Women Right (by Bijoy Kumar Dogra), Rah Me Unse (by Harsh Panchalwar), Sagavaram (by Dinesh Balasri), Dennis And His Kambala Buffaloes (by Praveenk Shetty & Nitesh Anchan), Little Explorer (by Sapru VV), Air Pollution (by Umesh Y Gaurav), Black Hole (by Pradyumna), I Am Not Down (by Jyoti Madnani), Khera- The Lakshmi of Chilika (by Sudeshna Gupta), Wimdermere Ki Ramleela (by Siddharth Rawal), Status (by Madhan R Karthick), Proof Of The Soul (by Gulshan Singh) and Manvi (by Indrani Ghosh) for screening.
The festival was inaugurated by Cotton University vice-chancellor Ramesh Ch Deka in the presence of national award winning Assamese singer Tarali Sarma, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s northeastern media coordinator Sunil Mohanty and a host of other dignitaries. Professor Deka in his speech emphasized on representing various characters in a movie with right perspectives. Releasing the booklet, published on the occasion and edited by Meenakshi Deka, popular music composer Sarma lauded the organizers of the film fest for their mission to pay homage to thousands of years of Indian civilization, culture and heritage. Addressing the smart gathering, Dr Mohanty pointed out that the cinema must not be a mere device of entertainment, but the film works should be a catalyst for social changes for the benefit of everyone in the society. He opined that any creative work should not evade the family values, human potential, social harmony, civic senses, a dignified way of resenting women and the environment encompassing Mother Earth.
On behalf of the organizing committee, Kishor Shivam along with Pramod Kalita, Utpal Datta, Bhagwat Pritam, Indrani Laskar, Amarjyoti Deka, Babita Sarma, Riju Dutta, Hiten Thakuria, Buddha Bharat, etc expressed hope that the exercise would encourage the budding filmmakers to promote more film-works as a powerful tool for the social empowerment of those under privileged and certainly not a source of glossy entertainment only. They also believed that the powerful medium should make the audience aware of the rich cultural heritage of Bharat and feel a sense of pride out of its legacy engulfing thousands of years.
