2nd Nagaland Film Festival to be held from Oct 31 to Nov 1

Kohima: The second Film Festival of Nagaland is scheduled to take place from October 31 to November 1 at the Capital Convention Centre in Kohima. It will be organised by the Film Association of Nagaland (FAN) in collaboration with the Directorate of Information and Public Relations (DIPR).

Announcing this at a press conference held at Eastgate Hotel on Tuesday, FAN president Kivini Shohe said, “This has been a dream.”

She added that 56 films from all Northeastern states will make an entry into the festival, of which 28 each fall in the competition and non-competition film sections. The two categories for the competition section are Short Fiction and Short documentary, both under 10 minutes.

DIPR director Limawati Ao said that while the first film festival of Nagaland held in 2017 was “low key” and “a domestic affair with not much competition”, it was “very well received”.

Ao added that the department was encouraged to organise a bigger festival and although this edition is officially the second Film Festival. “But at a scale like this, it is a first of its kind,” he added.

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Indian film director Subhash Ghai, who is scheduled to visit the state for another event, will also likely attend the film festival on November 1 and interact with filmmakers.

Expressing disappointment that a Film & Television Institute (FTI) branch in Nagaland was ruled out due to land issues, shifting it to Arunachal Pradesh, Ao said that the department is making efforts to create an industry for films and media.

He hoped that this festival will provide an opportunity to show people that Nagas have human resources and at the same time learn from others.

DIPR being the nodal Department for films, Ao said that the department is consulting with states that already have film policies in the hope that “very soon a film policy [will be made] in the state”.

Additional director Tokishe Sema, recounted how he encouraged filmmakers to legally register under the banner of an association to “promote films” as there are “so much talent in the state”. Sema added that although the festival may not be an annual affair, the joint venture with FAN will host workshops, seminars and other activities in the hope to expand the industry and create job opportunities for the youth.

Meanwhile, festival director Yapangnaro Longkumer lauded the DIPR for the proposal to make this edition a Northeast festival. Longkumer said that out of the 58 film entries, 56 were selected. She also clarified that to make the selection a fair process, a jury comprising of critics outside the state made the selections for the competition section.

She added that young Naga filmmakers have responded for participation. When asked about the number of Naga film entries, she said that eight Naga films were registered. She expressed her excitement saying that a new filmmaker whose movie was selected for the non-competition section was also selected by the jury for another film in the Competition film section.

Filmmakers Moji Riba, and Nicholas Lemtur Kharkongor, of Axone fame will also conduct master classes during the festival. Prominent feature films include Rima Das’s Village Rockstars; Dominic Sangma’s MA.Ama and Bhaskar Hazarika’s Aamis.

Later, the logo of the association was officially launched by Limawati Ao. With 40 registered members, FAN, affiliated to the Federation of Film Societies of India (FSSI) was formed to ensure overall improvement in the standard of filmmaking, safeguard the interests of genuine and established individuals in the field of all film-related activities.