| India – A short film on North East India presented |
| India – “Yarwng” Wins National Film Award |
On Friday 19 March at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, the 56th National Film Awards ceremony took place. The Salesians Fr Joseph Kizhakechennadu (producer) and Fr Joseph Pulinthanath (director) received the award from the President of India for the film “Yarwng” (Roots), made in the State of Tripura and in the Kokborok language. It was Tripura’s first ever national film award and the first award won by priests.
Present at the award ceremony, in addition to the President of India, were also the Hon. Mrs Ambika Soni, Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting, and Dr. S. Jagathrakshakan, Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting as well as numerous “Bollywood” personalities.
Fr Thomas Vattathara, Rector of the Don Bosco Institute in Guwahati, underlined the importance of this award in the year of the priest as he explained: “Priests and priesthood have always had a niche carved out for themselves in the vast repertoire of fiction and film stories. Nevertheless, in this circumspect domain one seldom sees men in this garb take the driver’s seat and make a mark at the highest level.”
This film made by the two priests has not only a high artistic merit. When it was the opening film at the prestigious Indian Panorama section of the 39th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Panaji, Goa, November 2008, it made an unexpected political impact. Mr Anand Sharma, then Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting, announced that he would take up with the Central Government the case of the people displaced when the Hydel Project was set up, and he congratulated and thanked Fr Joseph Kizhakechennadu and Fr Joseph Pulinthanath for making the film in a language of whose existence “I was not aware, despite having toured almost all districts of the country.”
Published 30/03/2010
