KOCHI:Shaison P Ouseph and his documentary team were in the hinterlands of Arunachal Pradesh filming the ethnic groups near the Indo-Chinese border, in 2010. Hearing about a clash between two tribes, the team stayed in a small hamlet. They played with the kids and settled for the night. In the morning, they heard one of the tribes had attacked and burnt one village belonging to the other.
"The villagers said a six-year-old boy had gone missing during the attack," Shaison tells Express. "They went searching for the boy in the forest and we accompanied them. Sometime later, we stumbled upon the boy who had hours ago succumbed to his fatal injuries. That innocent boy had played with us the day before."
Shaison's filmmaking career has been filled with heart-wrenching moments like these. "Such incidents keep that fire in me burning and convince me I should do what I do if I want to make a difference in the world," he says.
Shaison aims to inspire young people. "I want to use films to share powerful human stories for the greater purpose," he says. Recognising his work for humanity, the World Institute for Peace in Nigeria honoured him as the World Icon of Media for Peace 2017. He was recently accorded a reception in Kochi. The native of Chalakkudy, who is a faculty at Xavier Institute of Communication in Mumbai, has received more than six international accolades, including the United Nations Award. Early this year, Shaison also took part in the International Youth Summit in Nepal.
Also, 'Playa Azul I Love You: Together in Ecosexual Love' - a documentary by Serena Anderlini and Shaison on a love affair with a Puerto Rican beach that culminates in 'a plural wedding of ecosexual love' - was recognised by International Independent Film Awards in 2017.
The Mumbai-based filmmaker will soon be seen behind the lens for his next project 'Sister Rani Maria', which is a feature film about a Catholic nun who was murdered for empowering the landless poor. "The script is done by Jayapal Anandan and we will soon start shooting," says Shaison.