Music Festival Conclues On A High Note: Sight & Sound
Music Festival Conclues On A High Note
The 4th Guwahati International Music Festival at Shilpgram in Guwahati ended on a high note recently as popular singer Lucky Ali took the audience on a nostalgic ride to the early 2000s with his iconic numbers.
The 'Jaane Kya Dhoondta Hai Ye Mera Dil' singer enthralled the audience who were up for a great experience at the final day of the 4th edition of the festival.
The packed audience was also treated with a series of fantastic performances by Opnairdrgmht from Vietnam, Dr. Dope, Bottle Rockets India and Rajan Shrestha from Nepal.
Earlier on, the North-East competition round witnessed performances by bands like Lallianpuia Thangluah and Perennial from Mizoram; and Thunders Cave from Meghalaya.
The event also saw the inauguration of the ethnic food competition for homemakers by the Lok Sabha MP Rameswar Teli at the Shilpgram.
On February 29, popular Thai Folk-Jazz band Asia7 performed at the festival before the band Funktuation, featuring popular singer Benny Dayal, enthralled the audience. The stage also witnessed performances by the Reunion Island band, Dogo Fara.
Organised by the Eastern Beats Music Society in collaboration with North Eastern Council, Government of India, the 4th Guwahati International Music Festival showcased a line-up that brings together some of the most significant artistes from the Asian circuit along with the leading stakeholders of the industry, literally making GIMF a global powerhouse in the music scene.
The festival was preceded by a first-of-its-kind 'Northeast India Music Conference' at the NEDFi House, which saw the participation of industry leaders, benefiting the musicians of the region.
A brainchild of Northeast-based writer and cultural activist Aiyushman Dutta, the idea of Guwahati International Music Festival was mooted way back in 2010 in order to provide a platform wherein musical maestros from across the globe can share the stage and collaborate with our indigenous music and cultural practitioners. In the first two editions, the festival helped create new vistas for cultural collaborations of our topmost Northeastern folk exponents with the finest of musicians from Goa, Nepal, UK, USA, Germany, China, Bangladesh, and the like.
ABOUT EASTERN BEATS MUSIC SOCIETY: Eastern Beats Music Society is a non-profit organisation formed in 2009 to harness the healing power of music, sports and the arts. The society is registered with the Registrar of Societies, Assam and Niti Ayog, Planning Commission, Government of India. Over the past decade, it has partnered with numerous agencies of the Government of India – NEZCC (Ministry of Culture), ICCR (Ministry of External Affairs); Government of Assam, Government of Goa, PSU's like NTPC, NHPC, NEEPCO, NRL and musical giants like Musicians Institute (USA), Suzuki Music International (Japan), Thompson Music (USA), besides others.
'aei maatite' screened at global cinema festival
Assamese film 'Aei Maatite' was screened on the concluding day of the three-day Global Cinema Festival 2020 in Sikkim, recently.
The cinema festival is an initiative of the Film Federation of India in association with Sikkim Films Co-operative Society Ltd, supported by the government of Sikkim.
Expressing delight on selection of the film for the festival, director of the movie, Sitanath Lahkar, said: "It is a great news for not only me, but for the entire Assamese film industry. It is even more heartening that the organisers selected a film which is completely based on a social problem of Assam. With the screening of 'Aei Maatite' at the Global Cinema Festival, a larger section of people will be aware of the deadly menace called witch-hunting."
This debut feature film of Lahkar talks about the witch-hunting problem in Assam and how a section of people uses witchcraft for their own interest. The film, an adaptation of Lahkar's own play Tamasaa, contains a message against witch-hunting and is an attempt to uphold the value of scientific temperament and human life.
Recently, the Nalbari district administration tied up with ANGEEKAR Films to create awareness against the menace of witch-hunting by screening 'Aei Maatite' in the rural areas. Under this initiative, the film was screened at the Bamunbari village of Tihu.
Made under the banner of ANGEEKAR Films, 'Aei Maatite' is now travelling across Assam with special shows to create awareness against witch-hunting. It was released in 2017.
short film, advertisement film on e-courts services released
Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court Justice Ajai Lamba released a short film and an advertisement film on e-Courts Services, at the Judges' Conference Hall of the High Court recently.
The short film titled 'Ghare Ghare e-Courts' of half-hour duration and a 58-second long advertisement film have been directed by documentary filmmaker Dip Bhuyan, produced by the Gauhati High Court and conceptualised by the Court's ICT committee.
Chief Justice Lamba appreciated the initiative taken by all those who were instrumental in the production. "The purpose of the production made in Assamese with English subtitles was to popularise and publicise the utility of the e-Court Services among the common people and legal practitioners. The project is expected to generate awareness regarding the benefits of the e-Courts Services among the people," he said.
"It is expected that this would make the court matters more transparent, easier, cost-effective as well as time-saving. This initiative is also expected to enhance digital literacy in legal areas and provide access to legal matters of the people living in remote and rural areas," he added.
The short film is about the journey of a person from a remote area who was in a dilemma over his case-related information and had to frequently visit the court. Later, he was comforted by the e-Courts Services, and his smart daughter subsequently involved herself in campaigning for the services among villagers.
Mantu Saikia and Dr Sayanika Dutta have assisted in the production of the films, which have been edited by Simanta Sandilya Sarmah, Bikash Kumar Dutta and Dr Abhijit Barthakur as co-script writer with Bhuyan. Assamese actor Arun Hazarika, Mantu Saikia, Junu Nath, Pratibha Chowdhury along with some others have acted in the twin production.
Along with the Chief Justice, judges of the Gauhati High Court, the Advocate General of Assam, representatives of bar associations and High Court officials were present on the occasion.
The programme was hosted by Dr Suresh Kumar Nath, former Registrar of Gauhati University, who was also associated with the production as script adviser.
jonaki film festival concludes
The second edition of the Jonaki Film Festival, organized by the Department of Communication and Journalism, Gauhati University, concluded on February 29. A total of 36 films participated in the short-film competition organised during the festival. 'Aharor Duporia' by Dhruba Jyoti Das got the best short film award.
In the cine quiz competition, Bhupal Sarma and Rubul Kalita won the first prize. Team of Ankurjyoti Sarma and Raktim Ranjan Baishya got the second prize, while Deepjyoti PAtowary and Dhritiraj Misra got the third prize.
Chief Coordinator of the festival, Rakesh Haloi and Pradeepta Das informed that more than 2000 students participated in the festival. Film personalities like Lima Das, Arghadeep Baruah, Manjul Barua, Jahenara Begum, Anup Koushik Borah, etc. participated in an interactive session with the students.
A total of 13 films from Assam, Tripura, Arunachal, and Manipur were screened in the festival.
Gauhati University Registrar Hemanta Kumar Nath participated in the closing ceremony and released the souvenir of the festival 'Pratyasa' and the lab journal 'GU times'.
Commemorating the science day, Bharati Bharali, in-charge of the festival, said in her speech that Jonaki began on February 28 which is celebrated as the National Science Day in India. Further she said that cinema is considered as one of the best mediums for promoting science and technology in India, citing UNESCO's report on 'Popularization of science through film'.
"The philosophy and the power of cinema as a strong tool of science communication should be promoted in our country as like the developed nations in the west," she said.
Ankuran Dutta, head of the department congratulated all the students for successfully organizing the festival. He also thanked the film personalities for accepting the invitation and encouraging the young students.
Prantik Deka
