Mingkeng Osik

ITANAGAR, May 31: Two documentary films from Arunachal Pradesh namely “The Galos” directed by Apak Gadi and "The song we sing; the drums we beat"  directed by Kombong Darang was screened at the 17th Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) today.
The Galos--  is based on an ethnographical study of central Himalayan tribe, the Galos. The Galos are one of the many ancient tribes of Arunachal Pradesh, the extreme north eastern state of india, sharing almost 1100 kilometres border with South Tibet. The 23-minute documentary takes a deep look at society and culture of the Galos focussing on their remarkable expertise in traditional herbal medicines and ancient remedies. Their civilisational experiments with native diet patterns,  which is potentially a huge reservoir of health friendly food habits, a subject of obsession for the modern world is another strand in the film.
"The film could be an eye opener for the rest of the world to understand and acknowledge Arunachal and the Galo community’s potential to cure the world through its traditional knowledge connected to ancient medicine and food habits," shared Apak Gadi, who is a Arunachal based filmmaker and also served as a Guest Asst. professor in the Dept. of Mass Communication and Journalism, Rajiv Gandhi University. 
This is the third documentary film from Gadi which has been selected for MIFF, the earlier two were “40 years through the lenses” and “The Membas” screened at 15th MIFF.
Another docmentary film directed by Darang who is a Documentation Officer CFEL, RGU and also a Phd scholar in the Dept. of Mass Communication and Journalism, "The song we sing; the drums we beat",  depicts a very interesting language and culture of the Kaasik community. The Kaasik community is a subgroup of Nocte tribe of Tirap district, which embarks on a journey of reliving their past while reflecting on their future as a distinct culture.  
Congratulating both the directors, Minister for Home & IPR, Bamang Felix said “Arunachal Pradesh is a hub of myriad ancient cultures which needs to be cherished and documented. The government of Arunachal has already taken steps in this direction and I hope our youths will successfully carry forward this effort and showcase our amazing cultures to the rest of the world."
The Film & Television Guild of Arunachal (FTGA) also congratulated the duo, and highly appreciated the endeavours of young filmmakers from the state of Arunachal. FTGA expressed hope that filmmaking as a career will cater a newer platform in the state. 
MIFF is one of the oldest and largest film festival for non- feature films in South Asia which began in 1990. Organised by the Films Division, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Govt. of India.
The 17th edition of festival will screen documentaries, short and animation films, which will be held from May 29 to June 4.
Altogether 13 films from the North East will be screened at MIFF 2022. 

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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