Assamese film 'Before Spring', Manipur's 'Joseph's Son' clinch top awards at Guwahati Asian Film Festival

Assamese film 'Before Spring' emerged as the favourite, as it bagged four awards including the 'best director', at the inaugural edition of the Guwahati Asian Film Festival (GAFF) 2025.

Haobam Paban Kumar's Manipuri movie 'Joseph's Son' was adjudged the best film in the special competitive section, exclusively for movies from the Northeast.

Six films from the region, representing diverse voices and cinematic excellence, competed for the top honours at the festival, which concluded on Sunday, as per officials.

Besides Shrutismriti Changkakoti winning the Best Director Award for 'Before Spring', the film picked the Best Performer Award for Deepjyoti Kakati, Best Sound Design Award for Kalesh Laxman and Bambi, and Best Cinematographer Award for Jayanth Mathavan.

Rewben Mashangva won the award for best music for 'Joseph's Son', Amardeep Gogoi for best screenplay for 'Collage' and Rantu Chetia for best editing for 'Ata Nirjon Duporiya'.

The Jury Special Mention for Performance went to Minakshi Kalita for the film 'Amateurs' and the Jury Special Mention for Cinematography to Nahid Ahmed for 'Collage'.

The three-day festival ended with the screening of 'My Melbourne' by directors Imtiaz Ali, Rima Das, Onir and Kabir Khan, with Onir being present on the occasion.

"It was brilliant to see hundreds of film lovers interacting and exchanging ideas over the past few days. This festival is not just about films; it's about creating a platform for cultural exchange and storytelling that transcends borders," honorary festival director of GAFF 2025, Monita Borgohain, said.

GAFF 2025, organised by Trending Now Media, featured a curated selection of 25 feature films from over 200 submissions from across Asia, representing countries such as Iran, Nepal, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Azerbaijan, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Turkey, the organisers added.