File picture of actors Jatin Bora and Prastuti Parashar during the shooting for Suren Suror Putek

Guwahati, March 26: This is a tribute to movie magic through the magical medium itself.

In the first attempt of its kind, director Aohindra Das is aiming to bring to the screen the 70-year-long journey of the Assamese film industry. It is, as he himself puts it, ?the happy and not-so-happy story? of Assamese cinema.

Titled Seventy Years of Assamese Film, the 90-minute documentary is ready for release. Das is planning to enter the film, which has critically analysed different genres of Assam?s cinema, in various festivals.

Avant-garde filmmaker Jyoti Prasad Agarwala sowed the seeds for the industry with his epoch-making Joymoti in 1935. Thereafter, the industry produced 312 films, including those in the Bodo, Mising and Karbi languages.

The documentary contains some sequences from Joymoti. Owing to lack of preservation, not a single print of the film is now available. The director has incorporated the sequences from Bhupen Hazarika?s documentary Joymoti and Jyotiprasad.

?Instead of categorising the films into art and commercial movies, I have tried to highlight all the landmark films that made a difference to the industry,? said the young director. ?The detailed study was a difficult job as there was a dearth of materials. But the industry people helped me throughout the research and making of the film.?

Critic Pabitra Kumar Deka said the film is significant for preserving a heritage and for educating cine buffs about the evolution of Assamese moviedom.