Loneliness of elders, human affection, youth aspiration, environmental introspection and natural patriotism flavour enriched the visual feast for film buffs for two days during the 8th Chalachitram National Film Festival – 2024 in the prehistoric city of Guwahati. Organized by Chalachitram, a subsidiary of Vishwa Samvad Kendra Assam, With an aim to foster nationalism through annual film-works and paying homage to thousands of years of Indian civilization, culture and heritage, the film-fest at Jyoti Chitraban premises showcased 50 documentary and short feature films in both the completion and only screening categories. Curtain came down for the annual event on 27 October with honouring Jaswandha as best movie in the rest of India category and A Sylvan Saga in the north-eastern club.
Directed by Shoneel Yallattikar and produced by Noopur Lidbide, Nishad Kulkarni & Shoneel, Jaswandha revolves around the story of an aged couple living in an urbanized location with melancholy but hoping for some refreshing experience with the arrival of monsoon. Brilliantly cast by veteran actors Neena Kulkarni and Mohan Joshi, the short feature impressed both the audience and jury members. On the other hand, A Sylvan Saga narrates the struggling tale of a baby single-horn rhinoceros, which was rescued from a tea garden near Kaziranga National Park and raised for trans-locating in Manas National Park for her future productive life. Produced and directed by Jyoti Prasad Das, the docu-feature inherently narrates the success story for protection of rhinos and other wildlife in Assam. An artist and film-maker by profession, JP Das also received the best director’s award.
The best screenplay award went to Abhijit Nayak for Wrong Number (directed by Bijit Borgohain, the short film narrates the story of a widower who tried to explore an unknown child telephone caller but ended up returning to his solitary life again with a new realization). Angsuman Barua & Pradip Ch Sarma received the best cinematography awards for Aadi Shakti Maa Kamakhya (directed by PC Sarma, the documentary throws light on the history and legends of Shaktipeeth Kamakhya atop Nilachal hills on the southern bank of majestic Brahmaputra river) jointly with Chida Bora and Sarpil Nandan Deka for Teens Of 1942 (directed by Samiran Deka, the documentary revered the sacrifice of known & unknown martyrs of India’s freedom movement).
Bhaskar Jyoti Bhuyan was awarded for best editing in Birubala-The Fearless Crusader (directed by Dhiraj Kashyap, the short film portrays the relentless struggles initiated by social activist Birubala Rabha to erase the social stigma relating to the witch hunting in Assam). Jury’s special mention went to Devajani Halder directed A Letter To My Home, which deals with homelessness, mental health and the age-old socio-cultural hegemony in Indian society, which needs to be redefined.