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SIGNIS, the official Communication body of the Catholic Church, MISSIO and the Salesian Society part-financed the making of the film. The film is an absorbing treatment of the large-scale displacement of peoples caused by the Gumti Hydel project in Tripura decades ago.
With its byline, `a romance on the idyllic banks of Raima and Saima, swept away by the floodgates of Change`, the film is an engrossing study of love, loss and never-ending hope. Two Cabinet Ministers of Tripura`s Marxist Government, also lauded the Catholic Church`s commitment to the preservation and promotion of local cultures and languages in the Northeast Indian state of Tripura.
Referring to the earlier, award-winning film of Sampari Pictures, `Mathia`, Mr. Sarkar, the Minister for Information, Culture and Tourism said, "Thanks to Mathia, the Kokborok language is known today beyond the confines of the state and the country."
Quoting the example of some South American tribes that `cannot even cry in their own language` (according to him), Mr. Sarkar, a renowned poet, said it is a `national shame` when any tribe, however small, loses its language. Recalling how Christian missionaries have always been committed to promotion of Culture and language in the past, Mr. Sarkar praised the use of the medium of `film` by the Church as it will `directly strengthen culture and language of the peoples`.
Bishop Lumen Monteiro of Agartala who was a guest of honour at the function reiterated the resolve of the Church to stand strongly with the weak, the poor and the marginalized. Making of films like Mathia and Yarwng, therefore, are `hugely meaningful and relevant activities` for the Church, said the Bishop.
Published 12/09/2008
