The stories of World War II, interspersed with narratives of valour from the North East region, will be revisited at International Film Festival of India with the screening of "Memories of a Forgotten War" in the Indian Panorama section.
The Indian Panorama section at IFFI, which was inaugurated yesterday by Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Venkaiah Naidu, will screen the world premiere of the film on November 23.
Produced by noted defence analyst and cyber security expert Subimal Bhattacharjee and directed by Utpal Borpujari, the film has been shot in Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Delhi as well Japan and the UK by a multinational crew.
The film's background score has been composed by National Award-winning Assamese musician Anurag Saikia.
"This feature-length documentary film seeks to tell the tales of valor of those young soldiers and of the locals who participated or witnessed those battles, thus seeking to bring stories of Manipur and Nagaland's role in the World War II, to the mainstream," says Borpujari.
The director, whose previous documentary on Naga folk music, "Songs of the Blue Hills", had travelled to numerous international film festivals, including the Indian Panorama at the 45th IFFI, has juxtaposed the interviews with war veterans with depictions of how those places that saw bloody battles look in today's times
"The journey between the past and the present has been done in a manner that recalls the history and make it relevant to today's times, helping the viewer to understand how history of seven decades back is important for today's times.
"The documentary aims at stories of bravery and valour of a generation of people in a factual and emotionally-connective way. Its a film that deals with the subject not as a military one but as one that impacted the lives of many individuals in many ways," said the film-critic-turned-director.
Bhattacharjee said he was motivated to make the film as he wanted bring out positive stories from Northeastern region.
"We decided to make the film because it is an important part of the history of Northeastern India that needs to be looked at from a humanistic point of view before it faded away.
"Since I come from the region, I felt strongly about bringing out the positive narratives from Northeastern India that is often in news for the wrong reasons," the producer said.
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