Panaji, Nov. 24 (PTI): The screening of a film by debutant Assamese director M. Maniram after 10pm at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) here last night, has drawn flak from the filmmakers and the delegates from Assam.

They blamed the poor response on the wrong schedule and alleged “step-motherly” attitude of the Centre. Such an attitude was the reaffirmation of the Centre’s discriminatory attitude towards the Northeast, they alleged.

The Assamese producers and directors participating in the festival have highlighted their bitter feelings in a letter to the authorities, a copy of which was also given to the minister of state for information and broadcasting, Anand Sharma.

In the letter, Maniram and producers Jayanta Goswami, Sobita Chanam and Dipankar Dutta said: “We are of the belief that this is another example of the discriminatory attitude of the Centre towards the Northeast.”

The filmmakers were fuming over the wrong schedule fixed for the Assamese film Mon Jai.

“The film is by a debutant director because of which it was very important for us to have its first screening at a decent time so that it can be seen by the maximum number of delegates and film festival representatives,” the letter read.

“Because of its late scheduling, especially when no transport is available for anyone after the screening so late in the night, the attendance was thin,” they pointed out.

The film crew was stranded at the IFFI venue last night without any transport and the issue had to settled only when a protest was registered over phone with officials of the directorate of film festival.

Documentary maker Gautam Saikia, who was supposed to make a presentation during the Indian Panorama section yesterday, missed the event after being denied entry into the theatre.

Arunachal film

A film made in a little-known dialect of Arunachal Pradesh has been selected for the prestigious Autrans International Mountain Film Festival to be held in the French Alps from Wednesday.

Sonam (The Fortunate One), a film by Ahsan Muzid, deals with polyandry among yak shepherds in Arunachal Pradesh.

It is the first feature film to be made in Monpa, a dialect of the Indo-Tibetan branch of languages, with subtitles in English.

The organisers of the festival, to be held at Vercors village, have subtitled the film in French.

Muzid, however, will not be able to attend the festival because of certain obligations. 'Autrans is one of the most prestigious mountain film festivals in Europe and is unique in France. The festival has become the major important event of the genre for mountain life and culture. But unfortunately I will not be able to attend it. Still, it's an honour that my film will be there,' he said.

Talking about the film, he said: 'Sonam is about the lifestyle of Brokpas (yak herders among the Monpa tribe) in the high altitude Himalayas. It deals with the subject of love, hatred and jealousy that can breed between two husbands of a Monpa woman.'

'The Brokpas are pastoral nomads as their existence depends upon yaks only. The system of polyandry came to the community to save the cattle from being divided among brothers,' he added.

It is a custom in that region for a woman to have more than one husband. Muzid depicts a unique situation where the husband offers to accept his wife's lover as co-husband. But the presence of the new man makes the first husband very lonely.

Sonam, the wife, suffers silently, too. Being a Buddhist, she opts for her own death in a heartbreaking ending.

Based on a popular Assamese novel of the same name, written by Sahitya Akademi winner Yeshe Dorjee Thongchi, Sonam has represented the country in various festivals across the globe, including the National Geographic's All Roads Film Project and Himalay Archie Nederland Film Festival in Amsterdam.

It had won the Rajat Kamal in 2005 for the best feature film for 'picturesque and effective portrayal of the contemporary tribal life'.

It took Muzid and his crew 45 days of gruelling trekking and travelling at heights of 8,000 feet to 15,000 feet to complete the film.

The filmmaker was a jury member of the Indian Panorama selection committee in 2007. His Jaws of Death was the opening film of Indian Panorama in IFFI 2005.

It was just not Saikia alone.

Goutam Bora, a jury member of the Indian Panorama section at the festival, was also denied entry though he identified himself.

The letter also mentions that Sharma described Yarwng from Tripura, the opening film of the Indian Panorama (feature section), a movie from Arunachal Pradesh during his address at the opening ceremony — “something which shows the lack of basic knowledge of our region among the so called policy makers at the Centre”.        

The filmmakers also pointed out that Oken Amakcha and Nirmala Chanu, the directors of Ratan Thiyam: The Man of Theatre in the Indian Panorama non-feature film section, did not receive their tickets to travel from Manipur to Goa even though their screening is slated for Wednesday at 12.45pm .

“If they cannot travel today, they cannot reach Goa on time for the screening as it takes two days to reach Goa from Manipur by catching connecting flights,” the letter said.