‘Iewduh’ awarded as best Khasi film at National Film Award

SHILLONG, OCT 25: Khasi Film ‘Iewduh’ received the coveted 67th National Film Awards in two categories on Monday.

It is the ‘Best Khasi Film’ and also received the award for ‘Best Sound Recording’, making it the first film from the North East Region to receive the top award in this category.

‘Iewduh’ was made by National Award winning filmmaker Shankar Lall Goenka, who had produced several award winning films in Assamese and Bodo languages earlier.

He will receive the 67th National Film Award for ‘Best Khasi Film’, while Location Sound Recordist Debajit Gayan will receive the award for ‘Best Sound Recording’.

Vice President of India M Venkaiah Naidu presented the awards at a ceremony held in New Delhi on Monday.

Commenting on the development, ‘Iewduh’ Producer Shankar Lall Goenka said: “This is a landmark achievement by the film. In fact, it is an important recognition for Khasi cinema. I humbly thank all the people associated with the film for making this possible.”

“Iewduh achieving the milestone of National Award for Best Sound Recording is also a matter of pride for the North East as this Khasi film is the only one so far from the region reaching to this level,” he added.

‘Iewduh’, also known as Bara Bazar, is one of the oldest and largest daily markets in Shillong.

The film talks about the daily lives of the people in the market.

The film, produced under the banner of Shiven Arts, was premiered in India at the 21st Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival in October 2019.

‘Iewduh’ was also selected in the Indian Panorama at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Goa.

‘Iewduh’, directed by Pradip Kurbah, had won the ‘MIT-SFT Human Spirit Award’ at the

Pune International Film Festival in 2019 and the Asian Cinematography award in Manila in

2020.

The film was commercially released in November 2019 across the North East and other parts of the country such as Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Kolkata.

In 2019, ‘Iewduh’ had won the prestigious ‘Kim Ji-seok Award’ at the 24th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) in South Korea. ‘Iewduh’ had its world premiere at the BIFF.

The Khasi film has been released across nine leading Over-The-Top (OTT) platforms in South

Korea. This is a rare feat achieved by a handful of Indian films so far.

The digital platforms where ‘Iewduh’ has been released are KTBTVLGU+PLAYY, SKYLIFE, HOME CHOICE FILEJO WAVE, CINEFOX, GOOGLE PLAY, WATCHA, TVING, KAKAO PAGE and IPTV in BLUE COLORS.

By Our Reporter