Pune: With the fourth edition of the North-East film festival ‘Fragrances from the North East’ being held from February 1-3, the organisers and participants wish to portray the diversity and rich culture of the eight states during the event.
The festival will be held at Phase II of the National Film Archive of India (NFAI), located in Kothrud, with screenings at ELTIS Symbiosis (English Language Teaching Institute Of Symbiosis) in Model Colony as well. Fifteen films in seven languages will be screened this year, of which two are bilingual - one in Sylheti Bengali-Assamese and the other in Assamese-Manipuri.
NFAI Director Prakash Magdum said that the festival is inspired from a similar festival being organised in Delhi and it has received a great response from the Puneites in the last three years.
Magdum added, “Films are the best reflectors of reality. Hence, we have chosen all the recent films, so that they will depict the present situation of the North East.”
“All films in the festival are new and released between 2016 and 2018. In fact, some of the films selected have not yet been screened in the cinema halls as well. The filmmakers from the region have now started approaching us, offering their films for screening. The cause of drawing attention to these states has become successful,” said Shirish Sahasrabuddhe, Director of Symbiosis Ishanya Cultural and Educational Centre (SICEC), which is also the organiser of the festival.
Khaidem Nongpoknganba of North-East Community Organisation, Pune, said the festival is a platform for their culture to get exposure.
“We have told our friends to bring their Maharashtrian and other friends to the festival so that, they get a chance to see for themselves, the diversity and richness of our culture and art,” he said.
