Brahmaputra Valley Film Festival kicks off 9th edition

The Brahmaputra Valley Film Festival inaugurated its ninth edition at Jyoti Chitraban Film Studio yesterday. This premiere film festival of the North East will continue with its screenings – feature, shorts and documentaries, panel discussions and masterclasses till December 8. Marrying culture and tradition and celebrating the diverse voices in cinema, it is a grand showcase of what regional cinema has to offer.

Welcoming the audience, Festival director Tanushree Hazarika mentions, “This evening marks yet another milestone in a journey that began as a humble passion project and has blossomed into a celebration of cinematic excellence, diversity and most importantly the indomitable spirit of North East India.  What started as a dream to shine spotlight on the vibrant culture and storytelling of the North East has now become a revered platform for showcasing not just our stories but meaningful cinema across the globe. It has become a meeting ground where art transcends borders and creativity knows no bounds.” It was an interesting reveal that over 150 submissions were made this year out of which around 80+ were films originating in the North East.

The inauguration was graced by many dignitaries including acclaimed producer Ronnie Lahiri who shares a strong connect with the region and the Festival. But what stole the spotlight were the cultural performances by Ranjit Gogoi’s troupe treating us to a Bihu dance performance and acclaimed folk singer Abhishruti Bezbaruah.

The Festival includes movies in Assamese, Boro, Bengali, Manipuri languages along with Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam. It makes its entry into foreign language movies with The Umbrella of Cherbourg by Jacques Denny in French. Sardhar Udham by Shoojit Sircar is finally set for a theatrical release while Rima Das’ Village Rockstars 2 also becomes a major highlight of the screening curation. Throughout the three days, one would be able to catch up on screenings of films like Chabila (Marathi), Mithya (Kannada), Chasma (English), Baruar Xongxar (Assamese) and more along with masterclasses by the likes of Rajeev Masand, Sneha Desai, Anvita Dutt, Aishwarya Lekshmi and more. While Basumatary’s Bibi Binanao (My Three Sisters) marked the opening film, Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light is set to be the closing film of the Festival on December 8.