4 Assamese films at New York Indian Film Festival

Four films by Assamese filmmakers, including a documentary,will be screened at the 19th New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF), to be heldfrom May 7 to 12. The films include Bulbul Can Sing by Rima Das, BhogaKhidikee (Broken Window) by Jahnu Barua, Aamis by BhaskarHazarika and Daughters of the Polo God, a documentary by RoopaBarua.

The NYIFF has been organized to celebrate independent, arthouse, alternate and diaspora films from the Indian subcontinent and is held atthe Village East Cinemas in Lower East Side of Manhattan.

Talented filmmakers namely Bhaskar Hazarika, Rima Das andRoopa Barua leaves no stone unturned to bring glory to Assam. It is worthmentioning that four films from Assam by Assamese filmmakers are being screenedfor such a festival. Out of these four films, three are feature films and oneis documentary.

Bulbul Can Sing has already made its presencefelt in some of the prestigious festivals across the globe after Rima'snational award-winning Village Rockstars.  Bulbul Can Sing received a special mention atthe Generation 14plus international jury at the Berlin International FilmFestival.

Bhoga Khidikee is a multi-layered story fromthe perspective of a female protagonist whose life is in turmoil owing to theideological and existential clash among the three men in her life, her father,husband and a stranger.

Aamis too has been able to draw the critics'attention. This is Bhaskar's second feature film and was selected for the 2017Asian Cinema Fund's co-production market in Busan and the 2017 NFDC Film Bazaarco-production market in Goa.Aamis had its world premiere at the Tribeca FilmFestival 2019, where it competed in the international narrative competitionsection.

Daughters of the Polo God, set in Manipur, isa unique story of girls and horses empowering each other. It is about saving anendangered breed of pony and empowering women in polo.

The festival, dedicated to bringing these films to a NewYork audience, will show a variety of films (29 narrative, three documentaryand 32 short films).