A still from the film, Oyaa

Itanagar, March 5: An arduous trek along the hilly and inaccessible terrain at Yazali in Lower Subansiri district paid off when the Arunachalee feature film, Oyaa, bagged four DDK national awards, making it the first film from the state to win any award.

Arun Um Sakat, the producer of the film, said Oyaa won the best film, best cinematography, best sound and best editing awards at a glittering function held at Jalandhar last evening, making the hard work of a 12-member unit worthwhile.

The film is an adaptation of Pill Topu’s book Oyaa, a tale about the plight of women in villages.

Cameraman Shishir Dixit was named best cinematographer, Bhupen Deka won the best editing award while A. Saikia bagged the honours for best music.

The film, which was screened at Akshara Theatre in Delhi on March 1, has evoked a good response.

“It is a great feeling. This is the first film from Arunachal, which bagged national awards in four categories. The whole unit is thrilled as the jury has recommended the film for the international film festival,” he said.

“The film speaks of the socio-cultural life of Nyishi tribesmen living in a nondescript village in Arunachal Pradesh and revolves around the life of a woman. It is the first such venture to capture Nyishi family life on celluloid. And our hard work has paid off,” Abhijit Das, the director, said from Guwahati.

A former student of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune and a professional painter himself, Das used long and panoramic shots of the Sagalee highlands of Papum Pare district.

Made in the Nyishi language, the film vied with 20 others from various states.

The story is based on the life of Oyaa, a married Nyishi woman from Yazali.

It delves deep into the Oyaa’s plight after her husband Podu ventures out to Itanagar to earn his livelihood, leaving her to look after his parents.

Podu, however, marries another woman and settles in Itanagar, while Oyaa waits fruitlessly for her husband’s return during the nyokum yullo festival, the community’s main festival, every year.

Podu never contacts Oyaa and the only time he writes to Oyaa is a few years after his departure.

Podu eventually returns after many years, but by then, Oyaa is on her deathbed.

The actors, Bengia Neye Likha as Oyaa, and Joram Papa as Podu, are government employees and had no formal training in acting.