Film fest opens with tribute to Hazarika

GUWAHATI: The 4th Cine ASA Guwahati International Film Festival kicked off in Guwahati and Lakhimpur on Sunday with several youths and students participating. Inaugurated by renowned Assamese filmmaker Biju Phukan, the mood of the audience became nostalgic when 'Oi Oi Akash Shubo', Bhupen Hazarika's evergreen song from the 1965 film 'Pratidhwani', was sung by eminent singer Sangeeta Borthakur as a tribute to the icon.
Acclaimed films from France, Italy, Switzerland, Poland, Canada, Norway, Germany, South Africa, Taiwan, Turkey and Iran are going to be screened in the world prism category of the festival, which has been organized in association with the Assam State Film (Finance and Development) Corporation. The films are to be screened at Rabindra Bhawan in Guwahati, Gauhati University, IIT-Guwahati and in Dibrugarh University and in Lakhimpur.
The organizers paid homage to Hazarika and Jnanpeeth awardee Mamoni Roisom Goswami on the opening day of the festival. Festival director Nesimul Mazid said Hazarika was a versatile genius who also proved his mettle in filmmaking. "The organizers' prime emphasis is to attract the state's young populace to good cinema. We have tried to screen critically acclaimed films from Europe. These films are rare and difficult to find and we hpe that our screenings will pull Assam's film enthusiasts away from mainstream cinema and towards critically acclaimed films made around the world," Mazid said.
The festival opened at Rabindra Bhawan with the screening of noted Bengali filmmaker Rituparno Ghose's romantic thriller 'Noukadubi'. Based on a story by Nobel laureate Rabindra Nath Tagore, this period film set in the 1920s is about a boat wreck on a stormy night that throws the lives of the four main characters out of course.
Viewers also enjoyed Kalpna Singh Chitnis "Goodbye My Friend", an epic film thattells the story of an extraordinary friendship between Leon (played by Carlo Astuti), a US marine in Iraq, and Kiran, an artist and humanitarian working with the Red Cross (played by Chitnis herself).
Mazid said that Gauhati University, IIT-Guwahati and Dibrugarh University helped the organizers reach out to film-loving students and youngsters. "The organizers have laid emphasis on young people. Our society have tied up with the mass communication department of Gauhati University and we are going to conmduct workshops and lectures on filmmaking and cinema, which is a part of their syllabus," he said.