IFFI 2021 reflected the growing appeal of India’s highly accomplished regional cinema
The Hindu
The 52nd edition of the festival showcased 24 feature and 20 non-feature films made in regional languages from across the country
One evening, about 10 years ago, filmmaker Biswajeet Bora was surfing channels on his television set when he stumbled upon a news report about a dilapidated government school in Assam. The school lacked sufficient benches, toilets, and teachers. During the monsoons, the school’s only pupil had to wade across the river or take a boat. “I felt bad thinking about our education system,” Bora says, “and the story stayed with me.”
This November, after several failed efforts to raise funds, Bora screened his film Boomba Ride at the 52nd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Panaji, Goa. The Mishing language film was shot with non-professional actors in Golaghat, Assam, Bora’s hometown. “I wanted to give the film the right local flavour,” says Bora.
Boomba Ride revolves around Boomba, a mischievous Mishing boy negotiating his attachment to education and love for his local government school, where he is the only pupil. Boomba recognises that the school and its three staff depend on his attendance for their wages, and he leverages his power by determining when he will attend (when it suits him), what he will eat there (country chicken), and how he will be spoken to (with a certain reverence).