CANNES: Manipuri auteur Aribam Syam Sharma's "Ishanou" screened at the Bunuel theatre on Friday as part of Cannes Classics 2023, but the indisposed 88-year-old filmmaker was unable to make it to the show.
Gerald Duchaussoy, head of Cannes Classics, informed the audience that Sharma was in town but not well enough the attend the unveiling of a restoration of his 1991 film.
"Ishanou", which was in Cannes official selection 31 years ago, is the only film from the northeast ever to make it to the festival.
Kangabam Tomba, lead actor of "Ishanou", was at hand to represent the film.
"It is like a dream for me," he said. "I would like to thank the festival and all the people who have made this possible.
"Sharma is here in spirit. He is deeply disturbed by the continuing violence that has claimed over 200 lives in Manipur. His blood pressure has shot up as a result," said Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, director at the Film Heritage Foundation (FHF).
FHF, which brought a restoration of G Aravindan's "Thampu" (1978) to Cannes Classics last year, restored "Ishanou" at the L'Immagine Ritrovata laboratory in Bologna and the Prasad Corporation's post-production studios, Chennai.
"'Ishanou' is a very important film, not only in the director's career but also in the larger context of cinema from the northeast," Dungarpur said.
"It was a very difficult restoration process. The negative was in a precarious state and had to be salvaged from a variety of elements," he added.
Scripted by M K Binodini Devi, who also designed the costumes for the film, "Ishanou" is one of the only 69 celluloid films in the archives of the Manipur State Film Development Society.
The film was the most obvious one to take up for restoration because of the key position it holds in the history of northeast cinema.