The first Meghalaya International Film Festival (MIFF) came to a close here yesterday with the screening of classics and critically acclaimed films.
MIFF was an initiative of the Meghalaya Filmmakers Association and Meghalaya Tourism. It began on March 14 and, over the course of five days, saw a wide variety of films shown to an enthusiastic audience.
The cult film, ‘Ka Synjuk Ri ki Laiphew Syiem’ (The Alliance of 30 Kings), which was incidentally the first ever Khasi film, was screened on the last day. Another outstanding and critically acclaimed Vietnamese film, ‘Kieu’, was also showcased much to the delight of the audience. Director Cao Thai Ha and the cast received a warm welcome by the MIFF organisers.
Some of the other films screened were ‘Lorni’, ‘Ka Chithi’, ‘ING 156′, ’14/8’ along with ‘Kagaz ki Khasti’, ‘Anur’, ‘A Common Crime’ and ‘Joon’.
A screenwriting workshop on the subject of ‘Changing narratives with women empowerment and strong female character’ was organised on the penultimate day with a few notable film personalities like Aruna Chakravorty, Anjali Patil and Barkha Bisht Sengupta with the proceedings moderated by Aditriye Dipika.
Minister of Information and Public Relations, Ampareen Lyngdoh, was present at the closing ceremony, which was held at U Soso Tham Auditorium and notable Bollywood actor Sanjay Mishra was the guest of honour.
Mishra said, “It’s a beautiful beginning with lots of opportunities. Hoping that in a span of 10 years this will be a prestigious film festival in the country.”
Lyngdoh, meanwhile, said that the state government will “provide attention to talented people” of Meghalaya and will “invest a sizable amount” to support the abilities of the people in such events.
