Unsung heroes at global film fest

Hul Sengel Aguwa (Unsung heroes of revolt), an hour-long film by Ranchi-based national award-winning activist-cum-film-maker Shriprakash, is the sole Indian entry at Nepal International Indigenous Film Festival (NIIFS), 2013.

The seventh edition of the Kathmandu annual film festival is a four-day bash this year. From April 25 to 28, the event hosted by Indigenous Film Archive will screen 27 entries on

“Equal access and participation of indigenous people in media”. Besides Shriprakash’s film scheduled for screening on April 28, entries have come from the US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Mexico, Russia, Norway, Spain, Germany, Colombia, Taiwan, Brazil, Ecuador, Guatemala, Ethiopia and Honduras.

Shriprakash’s invite came from festival chairperson Nabin Subba and director S.B. Magar. The event aims to showcase films on discrimination and exclusion faced by indigenous people and ways to combat them, the letter said.

Hul Sengel Aguwa is close to Shriprakash’s heart.

“After 18 years, I went back to same areas with my friend and cinematographer Biju Toppo where I had shot Kiski Raksha on the proposed Netarhat field firing range and Another Revolt on the Koel-Karo hydro-electricity project. This film looks afresh at the socio-political situation. Public Service Broadcast Trust and Films Division helped me,” he said.

Sriprakash’s films Buddha Weeps in Jadugoda on uranium mining and Buru Gara on the struggle of Jharkhand residents, are much lauded. Buru Gara won a Rajat Kamal national award in 2008.