AFSPA 1958 to be screened in Egypt film festival

Imphal, Aug 26 (UNI) A film made on the actual footage during the movement in Manipur, in the wake of the death of Th Manorama in 2004, has won a series of awards in India and selected to compete in the Egypt film festival.

Haobam Paban Kumar has produced a 77-minute documentary film ''AFSPA-1958'' and it bagged the top prize in documentary category of the SIGNS 2006-the Festival of Documentaries and Short Films in Video for the John Abraham National Awards held at Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala recently under the Federation of Film Societies of India, South West Region, state Information Centre informed.

The top prize was shared by another documentary "Waiting" directed by Atul Gupta and Sabnam Ara, which portrayed the stories of despair and agony in Jammu and Kashmir.

The jury report said, ''The jury viewed more than 20 hours of film and was struck by the remarkable passion and range of subjects that the films displayed. The liberating quality of video, as a means of ex-pression, to document the struggles and lives of ordinary people, was amply revealed in the selection of films.'' AFSPA-1958, which captured a series of incidents in the aftermath of the killing of Th Manorama by Assam Rifles, bagged two international prizes in Mumbai International Film Festival of Documentaries, Short and Animation Films this year, organised by the Centre.

This documentary film has also been selected in the competition section for the 10th Ismailia International Film Festival for Documentaries and Short Films in Egypt commencing from September 15.

UNI NS JYN MSJ BD1014