National seminar on Manipur film held
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, April 04 2023:
Regional Centre for Cultural Heritage (RCFCH), Manipur under the sponsorship of North Eastern Council (NEC) organised a two-day national seminar on 'Manipur film' at Hotel Tampha, North AOC, here.
During the seminar held on Monday and Tuesday, issues related to Manipur films were minutely dissected from different perspectives.
Speaking at the inaugural function of the seminar, FIPRESCI India academic council member and film critic Meghachandra Kong-bram informed that central government with a vision to develop film in North East India releases Rs 40 crore annually.
However, Manipur is yet to avail the fund sanctioned by central government through Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Assam and Meghalaya are reaping benefits of the fund sanctioned for North East, he continued, while adding that Manipur also need to try and take its share.
For enjoying the benefit, it should be applied through state's directorate of information and public relations, he added.
Pointing out that Media and Entertainment Sector industry is under Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Meghachandra informed that there are 9,600 halls recognised by the ministry.
In North-East, Assam has 78 halls, Meghalaya five, Tripura seven, Arunachal five, Sikkim four and Nagaland has one hall.
Different benefits are also extended to the recognised halls.
However, it is unfortunate that no hall of Manipur is included in the list.
This signified that Manipur has no cinema hall.
So, Manipur loses all the benefits, he added.
Meghachandra further stated that the Union government recognised film making as one of the industries in 1998.However, Manipur government is yet to declare it as an industry and the centre had already instructed the state government to do the needful.
The state government upon discussing the status of Manipur film hesitated to declare film production as an industry.
As such, everyone should work hard to ensure declaration of films as industries in the state, he exhorted.
In the technical sessions of the seminar, film maker Kchangthai Gonmei spoke on the topic Manpiuri dialect Film makers: Their potentials and challenges', film makerBobby Wahengbam on 'Communities and Cinema: Cultural diversities in Manipuri Cinema', Manipur Film Journalists and Critics Association president Manindra Konsam on Manipuri Cinema and Nationalism' and playwright Ranjit Ningthouja on Manipuri Film Storyline: Struggle and challenges' as resource persons.