Shangpung to host maiden film festival

A REPORTER
SHILLONG, Dec 16: For the first time in the cultural history of the State, a village in Meghalaya will be organizing a film festival that will screen films on local culture, songs and livelihood. This unique initiative is being undertaken by the KiriDaloi tive Cultural Institute of Shangpung village which will be organising the Shangpung Film Festival on 18th December 2015 at the SeinTyllilang Auditorium in Shangpung Pohshnong from 2pm onwards. This unique one day film festival will show case locally made films from Shangpung and Jowai besides showcasing films from the acclaimed documentary series “Songs to Live By’, a series made by Tarun Bhartiya, K. Mark Swer and Arwat Challam and produced by the department of Arts and Culture, Government of Meghalaya and NESFAS. This series consists of films which tell tales of songs and rituals in Khasi, Garo and Jaintia hills in their living forms. One of the documentaries of the series to be screened will be ‘Sounds from the Truck Country’ shot in Shangpung itself and which revolves around the local house warming ceremony called Ku Yung and unearths a living tradition called ‘La Heh’. Heibormi Sungoh, Shangpungs’s well known historian and archivist and one of the organisers of the Film Festival, has extended his welcome to the public to attend the screenings. As part of the festival, there will also be performances of traditiol songs and dances by Chlem Sur Tynre and other troupes from Shanpung village.