Assamese film Juiphool takes top honours as international film fest wraps up in Hyderabad

Assamese feature film Juiphool won the Dr Zubeen Garg Memorial Best Feature Film Award at the third Niri9 International Film Festival, which concluded in Hyderabad on January 11, 2026. The award marked the festival’s highest recognition and underlined the growing national visibility of cinema from Assam and the Northeast.

The two-day festival, held at Prasad Film Labs and Raj Bhavan Samskruti Auditorium, screened films across feature, short, shorter and documentary categories, with participation from filmmakers across India and overseas. Several Assam-linked films featured prominently among the winners.

Dahini – The Witch emerged as one of the most awarded films of the festival. Rajesh Touchriver was named Best Director, while the film also won awards for cinematography, editing and make-up. Juiphool additionally received the Best Costume Design award.

In the feature film category, Ghar won Second Best Feature Film, while Dahini – The Witch secured Third Best Feature Film. Kuhipath received the Jury Special Award. Acting honours went to Bishnu Khargoria for Akash Henu Nodir Nam and Akanksha Yadav for Ghar. Child artistes Nihar Kashyap, Sanidul Islam and Manik Ali were jointly awarded for Kuhipath.

Short film awards were led by Character, followed by Abaseshot and Manitha Subhvam. That Ugly Green Planet won Best Shorter Film. In the documentary category, Golden Thread received Best Documentary Film, with The Elephant Haven and PAPA – From Darkness to the Light placed second and third, respectively.

The closing ceremony was attended by M Dana Kishore, IAS, Special Chief Secretary to the Governor, and C Priyanka, Managing Director of the Telangana Film Development Corporation, along with filmmakers, actors and film educators.

A panel discussion on the second day focused on independent filmmaking, cinema and social change, and emerging production and distribution models, with participation from filmmakers and cultural practitioners from different regions.

Organisers said the response from the film fraternity in Hyderabad reflected interest in future collaborations, particularly with regional filmmakers. The festival is organised by NIRI9, an OTT platform under NIRI Media (OPC) Private Limited, Guwahati.