Guwahati, April 16: A US-based film distribution company — ITN Distribution — has bagged the rights of critically acclaimed Assamese movie Ahir Bhairav to take the film to the audience in North America and Canada.

The film had won the best international director award and also got nominations in four other categories at New York Independent International Film Festival in July last year.

The producer of the film, Ranen Sarma, said he has signed a contract for seven years with ITN Distribution to screen the award-winning film in North America and Canada.

ITN Distribution is a film distribution company that acquires movies from markets such as Cannes Film Festival, the American Film Market, Mipcom, Natpe, Mifed, and so on. Its films include documentaries, feature films, short films, and animated children’s titles. “I am quite proud at this development because it has not only brought recognition to the film but also to the Assamese film industry, which is at present passing through troubled times,” Sarma said.

“I firmly believe that there is no dearth of talent in the Assamese film industry but despite of that we are lagging behind primarily because of lack of exposure and opportunity. Through Ahir Bhairav we have proved that given the opportunity, we too can compete with the rest of the world,” he added. The producer had organised special screening of the film in New York, Hollywood, Atlanta, London, Delhi, Calcutta and different parts of Assam.

The film, which was shot at the UK and directed by late Siba Prasad Thakur, was released in Assam in April 2007. The film is the moving story of an Indian woman’s struggle with schizophrenia and the impact it has on those close to her, especially her westernised daughter. The story is about three generations of educated Indians caught in the vortex of this dilemma and how they psychologically struggle to come to terms with the lives of schizophrenia victims in their midst.

The film tries to see this problem through a human angle and set an example of tackling it in a positive way by bringing about a ray of hope to the distressed.

Sarma, who is a London-based general practitioner, had produced the film based on decades of experience with a view to bring awareness about different aspects related to mental illness.

Expressing concern over the sorry state of affairs in the Assamese film industry, he said, “I really feel said that many cinema halls in the state have closed down and a few theatres, which are still running are reserved for Bollywood film.”

He opined that the filmmakers should focus on making good quality films with the audience in mind in order to make the movies commercially viable for revival of the ailing Assamese film industry.