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Imphal, Nov 23 (IANS) The curtains of the Palace Auditorium of Manipur State Film Development Society (MSFDS), a Manipur government undertaking, are set to open once again for five days of cinema from Monday.
The seventh Sangai Film Festival-2025 will bring back old, cherished stories blended with contemporary tales, inviting cinephiles, students and families alike to experience cinema that respects the past while embracing the new.
MSFDS Secretary Sunju Bachaspatimayum said entry to the festival is free, no barriers, no tickets, just a shared love for films.
Running from 24 to 28 November, the festival promises a journey through the evolving soul of Manipuri cinema, where earlier milestones meet the voices of a fearless new generation of filmmakers.
The festival program brings together an impressive spread – Indian Panorama selections including the critically acclaimed ‘Oitharei’ by Dinesh Naorem and Andro Dreams by Meena Longjam.
Priyakant Laishram’s multi award winning feature ‘Oneness’.
Bachaspatimayum said 10 short films from emerging filmmakers will be screened under the “New Voices” section, offering new perspectives and styles of storytelling.
A rare treat for film history enthusiasts, six digitally remastered Manipuri celluloid classics were showcased along with Aribam Shyam Sharma’s ‘Orchids’ of Manipur under Rediscovering Manipur in collaboration with NFAI (National Film Archive of India) and MSFDS.
Opening the retrospective beyond regional cinema, this year’s edition broadens its horizons with four internationally acclaimed documentary features – ‘And Towards Happy Alleys’, ‘Dolls Do Not Die’, ‘Life is Beautiful’ and the Sundance-winning ‘A House Made of Splinters’, he said.
Presented in collaboration with DocEdge Kolkata and Documentary Resource Initiative, this package brings global conflicts, memories, dreams and survival to the screen.
Adding depth to the screening, the festival will host a thought-provoking interaction session titled ‘From Idea to Screen: Financing and Finding an Audience’ featuring renowned film personalities Neelotpal Majumdar, Ranjit Ray and Manipur’s Romi Meitei, moderated by filmmaker and journalist Bobo Khuraizam.
It will give young storytellers the chance to listen, question and learn first-hand from established professionals about the long and often unforgiving journey of filmmaking.
Organized by MSFDS and sponsored by the Department of Tourism in collaboration with the Department of Arts and Culture, Government of Manipur, the festival opens on Monday (November 24).
The MSFDS Secretary said film lovers will have the opportunity to meet both experienced and young talent in a Q&A session after the screening – moments of honesty where the makers talk about the struggle, sacrifice and stubborn passion that keeps cinema alive.
At a time when the pace of the world leaves little room to pause, the seventh Sangai Film Festival offers five days to sit together in the dark, to feel, reflect and celebrate Manipur on screen and in spirit, Bachhaspatimayum said.
Meanwhile, the Sangai Film Festival will be organized along with Manipur’s annual Sangai Mahotsav, a 10-day tourism festival organized by the tourism department of the state government to promote tourism and related economy.
The 10-day Sangai Tourism Festival began on Friday (November 21) at Hapta Kangjeibung in Manipur capital Imphal.
The Sangai Festival is named after the state animal Sangai, a critically endangered brow-antlered deer found in the marshy wetlands of Keibul Lamjao National Park, about 45 km from Imphal.
–IANS
SC/KHz