Documentary film Where the Clouds End by Shillong-based filmmaker Wanphrang K Diengdoh to be screened today

A CORRESPONDENT

ITANAGAR: The People’s Studio will hold a public screening of the acclaimed documentary film Where the Clouds End by Shillong-based filmmaker Wanphrang K Diengdoh on May 14.

The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with Wanphrang and independent filmmaker from Sikkim Tribeny Rai along with professors Yodida Bhutia and Phairembam Newton Singh from Sikkim University.

Where the Clouds End is a compelling documentary about tribal identity and border politics in Meghalaya. Following the creation of frontiers between India and its neighbours in 1947, the movement of foreigners into Shillong gradually began to arouse unrest.

People who had previously moved freely in the Khasi Hills suddenly became an unwelcome influx, threatening the land and purity of the Khasis. The filmmaker captures this indigenous group’s struggle to claim a legitimate ethnicity, preserve pure racial identity and assert subsequent land rights.

The film challenges stereotypical notions portrayed by the media of the unwanted ‘outsider’ who threatens traditions, social structures and moral values. Where the Clouds End explores identity as a fluid concept, which defies man-made imaginations, historical ideals, political definitions and geographic boundaries.

In 2013, Wanphrang was awarded the ‘Early Career Film Fellowship’ from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, for his documentary proposal of “Where the Clouds End”.

The film has been screened at the Royal Anthropological Institute, Bristol and also at RAI festival in Los Angeles. It was also screened at the United Nations World Urban Forum, Medellin, and Columbia.

Wanphrang is an independent filmmaker and the founder of Red Dur, a production space for films and music. His films, music videos and installation works reflect his interest in the culture and politics of the space he comes from.

In 2009, he was awarded the public arts grant from the Foundation of Indian Contemporary arts for his installation Kali Kamai. In 2011, his debut short film bagged all the awards at the GISFF Film Festival, Guwahati. Wanphrang has also directed several music documentaries.

The People’s Studio is a space for the showcase of art and creative works of artists in the eight north-eastern States.

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