IMPHAL, Dec 20 - Two Manipuri films � Eigi Kona (Stallone My Pony) and Highways of Life � were selected for the Indian Panorama of the 51st International Film Festival of India (IFFI 2020). Eigi Kona is a feature film while Highways of Life is a non-feature film. The 90-minute Eigi Kona was among 20 feature films selected from a wide pool of 183 contemporary Indian films by a jury of 12 members headed by acclaimed filmmaker and screenwriter John Mathew Matthan.
It is a film by Swarna Kamal awardee Bobby Wahengbam and national awardee filmmaker Maipaksana Haorongbam, and it was produced by Dr K Sushila Devi.
The film is an index of how polo players and ponies are leading pathetic lives in the birth place of polo. On the other hand, Highways of Life was among 20 non-feature films picked from a diverse pool of 143 contemporary Indian non-feature films by a jury of seven members headed by acclaimed feature and documentary filmmaker Haobam Paban Kumar.
The 52-minute-long Highways of life is a detailed look at the high octane lives of Manipur�s highway truckers. The film journeys a group of truckers through these unfavourable highways putting their lives on the line, ferrying essential commodities to serve the three million people of Manipur.
The film is directed by young and energetic filmmaker Amar Maibam and it was produced by the Films Division.
Highways of Life has been recently conferred with the Best Film Award at the Liberation Docfest 2020 in Dhaka and shown in competition section of many other reputed film festivals including Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival.
On the selection of his film, Amar Maibam said, �It�s an honour for us. But more importantly, I will be happier as issues related to our highways and their relationship with the people is acknowledged by a wider audience. I thank the crew members and everyone who supported the film.�
Echoing a similar sentiment, national award winning film critic and President of Film Society of Manipur Meghachandra Kongbam said, �It is a great achievement for Manipuri cinema, the leading cinema of Tibeto-Burman languages in the country, that two of our films were selected in the feature and non-feature sections of the Indian panorama of the 51st IFFI 2020.�
Last week, I Rise, a short film on ace boxer Laishram Sarita Devi, directed by Manipur�s National Award winning filmmaker Borun Thokchom, had bagged the Best Documentary Award at the 9th Mumbai Short International Film Festival.
