Song of the Horned Owl
Manju Borah
India. 2015. 78 min

According to a myth in Bodo community,  exploited man after death transforms into a horned owl (Hudu) and comes back to his/her home and keeps calling from a tree. The film takes this myth and uses it as a metaphor to intensify the thematic development.

The film explores the social and political upheavals of the indigenous Bodo community post the Second World War.  Close to 40,000 people have lost their lives to communal violence and insurgency over the past 35 years in the northeast regions of India, many of the victims entirely innocent bystanders. Raimali (Reshma Mushahary), a young rape victim, knows this firsthand. As she lies in an abandoned house,  she recalls how separatist violence has marked her life, that of her lover and their families, contrasting its disruption with indigenous folklore and the immutability of the Assamese landscape.

Song of the Horned Owl is a 2015 Bodo language drama film directed by Manju Borah;  based on the Assamese novel Dao Hudur Gaan written by Rashmirekha Bora and adapted as screenplay by the director herself.  It was produced by Shankar Lall Goenka and stars Reshma Mushahary, Ahalya Daimary, and Nita Basumatary in the lead roles. The film was premiered at Montreal World Film Festival in 2015.

MANJU BORAH

Six times with eight National Film Awards ( Rajat Kamal) winner Manju Borah, earlier a short story writer started her film making journey in 1996 with an Assamese film ‘Sapon ‘ . ‘Baibhab’(A Scam in Verse) is her first independent film released in 1999 followed by ’Anya Ek Yatra’ 2001, ‘Akashitorar Kothare’ (A Tale Told Thousands Times) 2003, ‘Laaz’(Shame) 2004,  ‘Joymati the Saviour’ 2006, ‘Aai Kot Nai (MA) 2008, ‘Ko:Yad’ ( A Silent Way) 2012, ‘Dau Huduni Methai’( Song of the Horned Owl) 2015, ‘Sarbagunakar Srimanta Sankardeb’(an animated film) 2016 and In the Land of Poison Women 2018.  All these films either received National Film Awards at different categories or being selected in Indian Panorama at IFFI and also at various International Film Festivals inside the country or abroad.

INTERVIEW WITH MANJU BORAH

DOWNLOAD PHOTOS

POSTER

CONTACT

Imagineindia International Film Festival

A Silent Way (Ko Yad)
Manju Borah
India.  2012.  90 min

The Poukam is a school dropout, who makes a living collecting driftwood from the river Brahmaputra in a boat that he inherited from his father. He faces many difficulties in life. His father collects wood from the river. The movie picturizes Poukam’s life, starting from his youth to his old age. But hardworking Poukam, was always put into trouble by his own friends, loan-givers and his son. At last, even the river betrayed him.

Ko: Yad – A Silent Way is a 2012 drama film, written, directed and produced by Manju Borah.  The movie is based on Anil Panging’s critically acclaimed novel Ko: Yad, published in the weekly Assamese Xadin. The film portrays the life of ordinary Mishing people through the protagonist, Poukam, struggle to make a living, in a small village by the Brahmaputra, in Assam.

At the 60th National Film Award for 2012, the film won the awards for Best Mishing Film, and Best Cinematography Award.

MANJU BORAH

Six times with eight National Film Awards ( Rajat Kamal) winner Manju Borah, earlier a short story writer started her film making journey in 1996 with an Assamese film ‘Sapon ‘ . ‘Baibhab’(A Scam in Verse) is her first independent film released in 1999 followed by ’Anya Ek Yatra’ 2001, ‘Akashitorar Kothare’ (A Tale Told Thousands Times) 2003, ‘Laaz’(Shame) 2004,  ‘Joymati the Saviour’ 2006, ‘Aai Kot Nai (MA) 2008, ‘Ko:Yad’ ( A Silent Way) 2012, ‘Dau Huduni Methai’( Song of the Horned Owl) 2015, ‘Sarbagunakar Srimanta Sankardeb’(an animated film) 2016 and In the Land of Poison Women 2018.  All these films either received National Film Awards at different categories or being selected in Indian Panorama at IFFI and also at various International Film Festivals inside the country or abroad.

INTERVIEW WITH MANJU BORAH

DOWNLOAD PHOTOS

POSTER

CONTACT

Imagineindia International Film Festival

In The Land of Poison Women
Manju Borah
India. 2019. 104 min

The film is a depiction of an individual’s effort to break the myth of ‘poison women’ in a remote part of Arunachal Pradesh. Thongchi has written the novel in the backdrop of Zemithang region of Tawang district.  Besides presenting a story of suspense, the novel portrays a superstitious belief prevalent among the people of that tribe. The movie won the 66th National Award for the best Pangsenpa film.

My film explores the indigenous people of North East, their political status, their struggles of their own existence: National Award winner Manju Borah.

Shedding light on these remote locations, she said, “People aren’t aware of the location where I shot my film. It is at the India-China border. There are less than 5000 people from a community living there. I truly believe that if one visits that place, one would feel nature is so vast and beautiful.”

MANJU BORAH

Six times with eight National Film Awards ( Rajat Kamal) winner Manju Borah, earlier a short story writer started her film making journey in 1996 with an Assamese film ‘Sapon ‘ . ‘Baibhab’(A Scam in Verse) is her first independent film released in 1999 followed by ’Anya Ek Yatra’ 2001, ‘Akashitorar Kothare’ (A Tale Told Thousands Times) 2003, ‘Laaz’(Shame) 2004,  ‘Joymati the Saviour’ 2006, ‘Aai Kot Nai (MA) 2008, ‘Ko:Yad’ ( A Silent Way) 2012, ‘Dau Huduni Methai’( Song of the Horned Owl) 2015, ‘Sarbagunakar Srimanta Sankardeb’(an animated film) 2016 and In the Land of Poison Women 2018.  All these films either received National Film Awards at different categories or being selected in Indian Panorama at IFFI and also at various International Film Festivals inside the country or abroad.

INTERVIEW WITH MANJU BORAH

DOWNLOAD PHOTOS

POSTER

CONTACT

Imagineindia International Film Festival

A Foreigner in my Own Land
Nishajyoti Sharma
India. 2017. 65 min

Nepalis (Gorkhas) of Assam are not foreigners or outsiders, except for few who may have migrated to Assam (India) post 1971. However, the prevalent sentiment among the Assamese masses is quite contrary to what history says and the Assam Accord of 1985 has agreed to.

Through this self-reflexive film, the filmmaker (who herself is an Asameli Nepali/Gorkha) explores the notion of identity of the community in Assam. The film encompasses the feelings of a common Asameli Nepali person regarding her/his own identity and her/his standing in the Axomiya society, the politics surrounding the ‘identity issues’ in Assam and the degree of assimilation by an Asameli Nepali to prove one’s projected notion of identity and loyalty.

About Assam Agitation and Assam Accord: The Assam Movement (1979-1985) was a popular movement in Assam, which was intended to repel ‘illegal immigrants’. The movement however affected and hurt the core of Non-Assamese communities (specifically Bengalis, Muslims and Nepalis) who wholeheartedly considered Assam as their motherland and ended up creating an irreversible divide of ‘us’ vs ‘them’. The movement finally ended in 1985 with the signing of the Assam Accord (between Centre and the Assam government) and a cut off date was decided for expelling illegal immigrants. The Clause 5.8 of the Accord said that the foreigners who came to Assam on or after March 25, 1971 shall be detected and expelled. For the Nepali immigrants, the cut-off year was 1976.

NISHAJYOTI SHARMA

DOWNLOAD PHOTOS

POSTER

CONTACT

Monteiro – Jayashankar :    contact@monteiro-jayasankar.com