First Bala Kailasam Memorial Award 2015 ; Another feather in the cap for Haobam Paban Kumar
Source: The Sangai Express / Manipur Info Centre

New Delhi, October 21 2015: Documentary filmmaker Haobam Paban Kumar has been named for the first Bala Kailasam Memorial Award for the year 2015 .

Cinema Rendezvous, a non-profit trust based in Chennai instituted the award to encourage 'Innovative use of Media for Social Causes'.

The award constitutes a cash reward of Rs 50,000 and a citation.

The award ceremony will take place on October 26 at Savera Hotel , RK Salai, Chennai with Suhasini Maniratnam as special invitee.

Cinema Rendezvous on Tuesday expressed pride in announcing that the recipient of First Bala Kailasam Memorial Award 2015 is Haobam Paban Kumar for his documentary film Phum-Shang (Floating Life).

Documentary filmmaker Haobam Paban Kumar (Left)

Cinema Rendezvous, in its Facebook post, said, "Floating Life, a 52 minute film produced by Film Division is a quiet and fair-hearted investigation of the fishing communities and their floating dwellings on Loktak Lake, North East India.

In 2011, Manipur Government burnt hundreds of huts in the pretext of cleaning the lake and blaming the locals for the pollution of the lake.

Thousands of fishermen were displaced, became homeless and their livelihood snatched.

With nowhere to go the fisherman still continue to fight the authorities.

They continue to fight a losing battle where the authorities are even questioning their being a native of the lake since they live on floating huts built on floating biomass.

In its treatment, the film has reached an epic quality and stands as a metaphor in portraying the vulnerability, struggles and strength of our lives.

The film moves and impacts the viewer at different levels and opens up whole new vistas for thought" .

Script writer, director and producer Haobam Paban Kumar was born on July 10, 1976 in Imphal.

He obtained PG Diploma in Direction and Screenplay Writing from Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute of India.

His non-feature film-AFSPA, 1958 made him the first Manipuri film maker to receive Swarna Kamal Award of National Film Awards.

Bala Kailasam Memorial Award, an award for Innovative use of Media for social causes is selected from the nominations submitted by individuals or organisations working in any of the platforms viz, print media, social media, documentary, television and radio.

The work done by the nominee should have impacted India in a tangible manner and brought about betterment in a society or a State or the country.

Cinema Rendezvous is a registered Non Profit Trust, working on Art & Culture related platforms promoting social dialogues between artistes.

The Trust has been working with urban and rural populace in promoting and understanding of the mediums of Art and Cinema.

It celebrates the arts and addresses the challenges faced by Artistes.

Bala Kailasam, fondly known as BK was a highly respected television professional and an activist documentary filmmaker.

He was a man of vision who could foresee the impacts of mass media well ahead of the times.

His visions of using media for social well being, environmental upkeep and improvement of human conditions remain unfulfilled by his untimely demise in 2014 .