Manipuri films, some of which have carved a niche in the national and international film world by bagging prestigious awards such as Grand Prix and Golden Conch, have been — much to the chagrin of the film-makers and enthusiasts — blacked out from the golden jubilee of International Film Festival of India scheduled to be held in Goa from November 20 to 28.
Swarna Kamal awardee for best film critics, 2017 Meghachandra Kongbam told The Hindu that it was a dampener for Manipuri film-makers, enthusiasts and others at a time when the people of the border State are mired in various forms of agitations. Many sections of people feel that Manipur was alienated from mainland India and the Goa film festival may aggravate it.
Syam Sharma, director of Imagi Ningthem (My son, my precious) had bagged the Grand Prix in Nantes in 1982. He has a long list in his kitty as he has also bagged other international and national awards. His name does not appear even in the list of film personalities who are to be honoured during the festival in Goa.
A young film-maker, Haobam Pabankumar, bagged the Golden Conch award in 2016 for his film Phumsang .
Mr Kongbam said that he had already written a letter to Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javedkar pointing out the surprise exclusion of the films of Manipur. He is yet to receive a reply from the Minister.
