Four Assamese films to be screened at the New York Indian Film Festival

Guwahati, May 1, 2019:

In the 19th New York, Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) is to be held from May 7 to 12 and Assamese cineastes will find great pleasure in knowing that four films by Assamese filmmakers, including a documentary, will be screened in the Film Festival.

The films include Bulbul Can Sing by Rima Das, Bhoga Khidikee (Broken Window) by Jahnu Barua, Aamis by Bhaskar Hazarika and Daughters of the Polo God, a documentary by Roopa Barua.

The NYIFF has been organized to celebrate independent, art house, alternate and Diaspora films from the Indian subcontinent and is held at the Village East Cinemas in Lower East Side of Manhattan.

It is worth mentioning that four films from Assam by Assamese filmmakers are being screened for such a festival. Out of these four films, three are feature films and one is documentary, Talented filmmakers namely Bhaskar Hazarika, Rima Das, and Roopa Barua leaves no stone unturned to bring glory and pride to Assam.

‘Bulbul Can Sing’ has already made its presence felt in some of the prestigious festivals across the globe after Rima’s national award-winning ‘Village Rockstars’.

‘Bhoga Khidikee’ is a multi-layered story from the perspective of a female protagonist whose life is in turmoil owing to the ideological and existential clash among the three men in her life, her father, husband, and a stranger.

‘Aamis’ too has been able to draw the critics’ attention. This is Bhaskar’s second feature film and was selected for the 2017 Asian Cinema Fund’s co-production market in Busan and the 2017 NFDC Film Bazaar co-production market in Goa. Aamis had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival 2019, where it competed in the international narrative competition section.

‘Daughters of the Polo God’, set in Manipur, is a unique story of girls and horses empowering each other. It is about saving an endangered breed of pony and empowering women in polo.

The festival, dedicated to bringing these films to a New York audience, will show a variety of films (29 narrative, three documentary and 32 short films).