Cinema not for glossy entertainment and making money, but for fostering nationalism, this is how Chalachitram National Film Festival takes shape in Assam. A unique visual feast is coming again for the film buffs on 25 and 26 October 2025 at Jyoti Chitraban premises in Guwahati. The 9th edition of CNFF is scheduled to screen nearly 40 documentary and short feature films (produced between 1 November 2024 and 15 September 2025 with the duration of maximum 25 minutes) in both competition and only screening category for the serious film-makers, cine workers, appreciators and general audience of northeast India. Organized by Chalachitram (www.chalachitram.in), a film society under the mentorship of Bharatiya Chitra Sadhna and Vishwa Samvad Kendra-Assam, the festival also paves the way for paying homage to thousands of years of Indian civilization, culture and heritage.
Initially launched as Guwahati Film Festival in 2017 and later renamed in 2019 with the central theme of ‘Our Heritage Our Pride’, the festival also encompasses various issues like Indian heritage, indigenous society, heroes of the freedom movement, epics & mythology, national integration & solidarity, arts & artisans, manuscripts & paintings, tradition and family values, cultural nationalism, women empowerment, environment, land & people, tourism, arts, handicrafts & textiles, wood carving, manuscript & manuscript paintings, painting & woodcarving, music and musicians, indigenous festivals, traditional sports, monuments & heritage sites, social reformers & pioneers, tea and oil industries, etc.
The preview committee comprising award winning director Jhulan Krishna Mahanta, veteran filmmaker Bibhu Dutta and accomplished cinematographer Hiten Thakuria, have selected the package of film-works, out of over 100 entries, for screening. A jury board consisting of artistes, critics, film-makers, writers and other professionals will select the winning films and they will be honoured with trophies, certificates, and cash prizes in the presence of distinguished film personalities and cine-goers. A special tribute will be offered to Assam’s prince of melody Zubeen Garg, who died in Singapore on 19 September under a mysterious situation, on the occasion, revealed CNFF25 secretary Bhagwat Pritam.
As tradition goes, the CNFF 2024 was also enriched with a number of high quality film-works, where the loneliness among older people, human affection, youth aspiration, environmental protection and buoyant flavor of patriotism were eloquently reflected. The two-day festival concluded with honouring Jaswandha as the best movie in the rest of India category and A Sylvan Saga in the north-eastern club. Directed by Shoneel Yallattikar and produced by Noopur Lidbide, Nishad Kulkarni & Shoneel, Jaswandha revolves around the story of an aged couple living in an urbanized location with melancholy but hoping for some refreshing experience with the arrival of monsoon. Brilliantly cast by veteran actors Neena Kulkarni and Mohan Joshi, the short feature impressed both the audience and jury members.
On the other hand, A Sylvan Saga narrates the struggling tale of a baby single-horn rhinoceros, which was rescued from a tea garden near Kaziranga National Park and raised for trans-locating in Manas National Park for her future productive life. Produced and directed by Jyoti Prasad Das, the docu-feature inherently narrates the success story for protection of rhinos and other wildlife in Assam. An artist and film-maker by profession, JP Das also received the best director’s award. The best screenplay award went to Abhijit Nayak for Wrong Number, which is directed by Bijit Borgohain. The discerning short film narrates the story of a widower who was tempted to explore an unknown child telephone caller but ended up returning to his solitary life again with a new realization.
The best cinematography awards jointly went to Angsuman Barua & Pradip Ch Sarma for Aadi Shakti Maa Kamakhya (directed by PC Sarma, the documentary throws light on the history and legends of Shaktipeeth Kamakhya atop Nilachal hills overlooking the majestic Brahmaputra river) and Chida Bora and Sarpil Nandan Deka for Teens Of 1942 (directed by Samiran Deka, the documentary reveres the supreme sacrifice of known & unknown martyrs of India’s freedom movement against the British colonial rule). Bhaskar Jyoti Bhuyan was awarded for the best editing in Birubala-The Fearless Crusader, which is directed by Dhiraj Kashyap. The short film portrays the relentless struggles initiated by social activist Birubala Rabha to erase the social stigma relating to witch hunting in Assam. The jury’s special mention went to Devajani Halder directed A Letter To My Home, which deals with homelessness, mental health and persisting socio-cultural hegemony in the society with persuasions for necessary reforms.
Selected by the five-member jury comprising Dr Pavitra Shrivastava, Dr Santosh Pathare, Sanskar Desai, Jadumani Dutta and Oinam Gautam, the awardees were honoured in the closing unction, where evergreen cine-personality Mridula Barua lit the sacred lamp in front of Bharat Mata’s portrait. Addressing the function, chief guest Atul Gangowar made a clarion call to the filmmakers to propagate the message of unity through their film-works. He argued that the movies should not split (but unite) and the filmy endeavour should not end up in earning money alone. On behalf of the organizing committee, Kishor Shivam, Pramod Kalita, Riju Dutta, Aparajita Pujari, Nihar Sarma and Buddha Bharat expressed gratitude to the audience for a remarkable response to the initiative. It’s hoped that the exercise would encourage the budding filmmakers to promote the medium as an effective tool to create a sense of patriotism among the audience.
