Guwahati, Oct. 17: Haanduk, (The Hidden Corner) a film from Assam, is among 11 films to be screened at the India Gold section of the prestigious Mumbai Film Festival to be held from October 20 to 27.

The 11 films have been selected from 170 entries from across the country.

Director-producer of the film, Jaicheng Jai Dohutia, said the film is a depiction of people confronting human rights related problems.

Made in Assamese and Moran languages, the 90-minute film is about a family that had lost a member who had gone to join the Ulfa. It was shot in Tongana Maaj Gaon, Tinsukia, Digboi, Margerita, Ledu and Arunachal Pradesh. Dohutia said the film was shot amidst people who had witnessed the growth of militancy.

Dohutia said he was inspired to make the film when in 2007 he had read a news report about an unfortunate incident involving a woman and her dead son.

"This incident prompted me to make a film," Dohutia said.

Dohutia said the Moran community, which lives in Upper Assam districts, has witnessed the birth, growth and later developments of Ulfa, which had recruited many youths from the community. "Despite the limitations of a film, I am trying to show how the social life of Assam was affected during the Ulfa movement," he said.

"It is perhaps for the first time that the Moran community of Assamese society has been explored in the context of this uprising," Dohutia said.

Haanduk is a Moran word meaning a very remote place or the dark corner of a house.

In the film, Heramoni, mother of untraced militant Mukti, whose last rites she had performed, receives intimation that his death cannot be confirmed by the outfit. This rekindles hope of getting her son back. The sight of Biplob, another militant, returning to normal life leaves her in distress. The developments impact the life of not only Heramoti but also that of Sewali, Mukti's fiancee.

The film has come at a time Ulfa leaders in the state are communicating with the Centre to send them to Bhutan to find their untraced cadres. More than 20 Ulfa cadres went missing after a joint operation conducted by India and Bhutan army in the last decade.

"I wanted the film to be realistic and be shot among real people and real locations, rather than actors. Our main challenge was Mukti's mother, the female lead. I needed a real character where trauma could be seen automatically etched on her face. It was really tough for me. It took two years to find the female lead," Dohutia said.

The director said before making this film he was involved as chief assistant director with another independent film, Orong, directed by Suruj Dowarah, an experience that helped him a lot.

"I did a very meticulous production plan that helped me during the principal photography," he said.