CHENNAI: Sound mixing engineer Sakunta Majumdar on Monday received the first Bala Kailasam Memorial Award on behalf of his friend and director Haobam Paban Kumar at a simple, yet elegant function at Hotel Savera in the city.
Instituted by Cinema Rendezvous Trust, the award is aimed at celebrating TV professional and activist documentary filmmaker, Bala Kailasam. Haobam Paban Kumar was chosen for the award for his documentary Phum-Shang (Floating Life). His 52-minute film is an investigation of the fishermen communities and their floating dwellings in Lohtak Lake, Northeast India. In 2011, the Manipur government burnt down hundreds of huts in the pretext of cleaning the lake and blaming the locals for the polluting the lake.The documentary has already won accolades including the Silver Lotus for being the Best Investigative film at the 62nd National Film Awards 2014.
The event began with a medley of BK’s popular TV title songs, which was played by pianist Anil Srinivasan. Talking to City Express, Sakunta Majumdar said Paban could not make it to the event as he had to head to Germany as his documentary had been selected for another film festival there. “Paban had to go to Leipzig for the Doc Leipzig Festival where his documentary has been selected in the competitive category,” Sakunta said.
Commenting on the documentary and the award, Sakunta said, the documentary was about seeking justice for the fishermen in Manipur. “There is a floating biomass on the lake and it is on this biomass that the fishermen have built their huts. They have been living like this for centuries. However, the Manipur government accused them of polluting the lake and burnt down their huts in a bid to throw them out. Three hundred such huts still remain and a legal battle is also going on. One of the reasons Paban made this documentary was he wanted to look at development in his own way.”
On the occasion, glowing tributes were paid to Bala Kailasam by the dignitaries, who had turned up for the event.
The BKMA, which carries a citation and a cash prize of Rs 50, 000, is awarded to a work of an individual or an organisation that makes use of social media, TV, print media, radio or documentary. The work should be based on any event that has impacted the country in a tangible way for the betterment of society.