>> YIDFF 2019

Rustle of Spring, Whiff of Gunpowder:
Documentaries from Northeast India

• October 11–14   [Venues] S1 Solaris 1, M1 Yamagata Museum of Art 1

Surrounded by Tibet, China, Myanmar and Bangladesh, the northeast region of India connects to the mainland via a slender stretch of land of just 22 kilometers in width, euphemistically called the “chicken neck.” From the time of Independence, the Indian state has obsessively worried about the map of this area getting severed from this slender chicken neck. Confronted by the self-determination struggles of the indigenous people of the region, Indian cartographic mania has pushed the democratic life there to just a frontier footnote.

But political turbulence is not the only story. As a geographical and civilizational bridge, the region has been at the crossroads of much older histories of community cultures. With more than 200 languages and scores of tribes, from hill societies to valley dwelling cultures, Northeast India could be celebrated as a microcosm of diversity. This program presents the tension and dialogue between the post-colonial Indian state’s efforts to represent the region and local filmmakers who seize back the narrative of their experiences.

An Autumn Fable  Dir: Pinky Brahma Choudhury / 1997 / 56 min
Tales from Our Childhood  Dir: Mukul Haloi / 2018 / 69 min   • Oct. 11 10:00 S1

Old Man River  Dir: Gautam Bora / 2012 / 52 min
What the Fields Remember  Dir: Subasri Krishnan / 2015 / 52 min   • Oct. 11 13:30 S1

Orchids of Manipur  Dir: Aribam Syam Sharma / 1993 / 28 min
Yelhou Jagoi: The Dances of Lai Haraoba  Dir: Aribam Syam Sharma / 1995 / 35 min
The Monpas of Arunachal  Dir: Aribam Syam Sharma / 2001 / 20 min   • Oct. 11 18:00 M1 (Yamagata Museum of Art 1) [Admission Free]

The Broken Song  Dir: Altaf Mazid / 2015 / 52 min
Songs of Mashangva  Dir: Oinam Doren / 2010 / 62 min   • Oct. 12 13:00 S1

In the Forest Hangs a Bridge  Dir: Sanjay Kak / 1999 / 39 min
Floating Life  Dir: Haobam Paban Kumar / 2014 / 52 min   • Oct. 12 15:40 S1

New Rhythms in Nagaland  Dir: Prem Vaidya / 1974 / 46 min
MNF: The Mizo Uprising  Dir: Napoleon Thanga / 2014 / 28 min   • Oct. 13 10:00 S1

Prayers for New Gods  Dir: Moji Riba / 2001 / 28 min
When the Hens Crow  Dir: Tarun Bhartiya / 2012 / 54 min
Not Allowed  Dir: Tarun Bhartiya / 2018 / 40 min   • Oct. 14 10:00 S1

Symposium

Documentaries from Northeast India / When Margins Becomes the Center   • Oct. 13 10:00 S1

With:

Pinky Brahma Choudhury (Director, An Autumn Fable)
Haobam Paban Kumar (Director, Floating Life)
Moji Riba (Director, Prayers for New Gods)

Moderated by: Tarun Bhartiya (Director, When the Hens Crow, Not Allowed)