A poster of the film on Machang Lalung — Freedom at the Edge

Guwahati, May 24: It is a short film that tells the tale of a long-suffering life.

The story of Machang Lalung, who spent 54 years of his life in confinement without a trial for a crime he committed in 1951, is now being told to the world on the big screen.

Freed in June 2005 after the National Human Rights Commission intervened in his case, the 79-year-old is the subject of a short film — Freedom at the Edge — to be screened at the Boston International Film Festival on June 11.

Reliving the life and times of the tribal man are actors Indra Baniya (an ageing Lalung) and Rajib Kro (a young Lalung) thanks to the initiative of Aneisha Sharma, who has over 30 documentaries to her credit.

Lalung spent most of his time in confinement at the Tezpur Lokopriya Gopinath Bordoloi Mental and Health Institute.

Festival coordinator Janet Llavina informed Sharma about the acceptance of the short film for screening at the festival on June 11. The festival will run through from June 6 to 13.

“I will leave for Boston on June 3 where I will interact with the media before the screening,” Sharma said here today. Shot in the DG Beta format, a “flexible” technique which helps preserve the film for posterity, the cast has only four professional actors. The rest of the cast include people either close to Lalung or are his relatives from Silchang village in Morigaon district, Sharma said.

Moreover, the mental institute where Lalung was illegally detained for 54 years after he was arrested in 1951 for a “silly” offence, was also part of the 20-day shoot.

Equally comfortable and adept behind the camera as she is in front of it, Sharma, now in her thirties, said the idea to make a film on Lalung struck her when she read news reports about his tragic life. “I was moved and wanted to do something about it. I went to his village several times to gather his personal details. Finally I wrote a script and homed in on the actors.”

Life clearly has come a full circle for Lalung, who is still trying to make sense of his freedom at his native Silchang, surrounded by his relatives and greatgrandchildren.

The Supreme Court, which had registered a suo motu case to ensure he has enough to live on for the rest of his life, had ordered the state government to pay Rs 3 lakh in compensation and Rs 1,000 as monthly assistance with free medical treatment for as long as he lives.