Skip to content Skip to navigation

Golden, Silver Rhino Awards to be presented in Guwahati International Short Film Festival

By AT News |


Some very exciting creations by short film makers from across the world will be showcased in the 1st Guwahati International Short Film Festival (GISFF) to be held on May 2nd and 3rd, 2011 at Assam State Museum Auditorium, Guwahati.


Altogether 200 films from countries like Spain, Italy, United Kingdom, Netherlands, USA and Australia as well as all over India will be screened during the festival under sections like World Kaleidoscope, Indian Kaleidoscope and the competitive section, North-East Shorts.


The World Kaleidoscope section will see screening of award winning short films from Cannes International Festival. Apart from that 7 award winning short films from Spain will also be screened in the World Kaleidoscope section, out of which PORQUE HAY COSAS QUE NUNCA SE OLVIDAN (Because There Are Things We Never forget) by award winning director Lucas Figueroa will open the festival.


A major highlight of the festival will be a special screening of the highly-acclaimed Malayalam "anthology film" titled "Kerala Cafe", directed by a team of ten directors - Lal Jose, Shaji Kailas, Anwar Rasheed, Shyamaprasad, B. Unnikrishnan, Revathy, Anjali Menon, M. Padmakumar, Shankar Ramakrishnan, and Uday Ananthan. For the first time in the history of Malayalam cinema, this film was conceived by a team of 10 directors. 10 cinematographers, musicians, editors, art directors and almost all the top Malayalam film actors. The cast includes Mammootty, Suresh Gopi, Dileep, Jayasurya, Prithviraj, Sreenivasan, Siddique, Sreenath, Rahman, Thilakan, Jagathy Sreekumar, Salim Kumar, Anoop Menon, Navya Nair, Shwetha Menon, Jyothirmayi, Rima Kallingal, Nithya Menon and Dhanya Mary Varghese.



The festival is an initiative by Creovaent Productions in association with Shamiana, the acclaimed short film club from Mumbai.


The jury that will judge the films in competition will be headed by eminent filmmaker Shyamaprasad from Kerala (director of award-winning Malayalam box office hits like Agnisakshi, Ore Kadal and Elektra). The special screening of critically acclaimed film ‘Kerala Café’ by Shyamaprasad will also be screened during the two day festival.


The other jury members will be Assamese actor Adil Hussain (who is acting in Ang Lee’s ‘Life of Pi’, Sridhar Raghavan’s ‘Agent Vinod’ and several other important films in various languages, after having received acclaim in films like 'Gangor' by Italian director Italo Spinelli, 'For Real' by Sona Jain and 'Ishqiya' by Abhishek Choubey), this year’s Aravindan Puraskaram winning director Nila Madhab Panda (whose feature debut ‘I Am Kalam’ has won 11 international awards till now) and internationally-acclaimed Manipuri filmmaker Haobam Paban Kumar (whose documentaries ‘AFSPA’ and ‘Mr India’ have earned global acclaim).


The competition films were selected from a large number of entries received from all over North-East India by a preview jury comprising noted theatre and film personality Nayan Prasad, eminent film editor Kaju, film critic Chandan Sharma and acclaimed director Bidyut Chakravarty.


The films in competition are:


Savages (Tarunabh Dutta), Serendipity (Suraj Duwarah), Dwita (Dipankar Das), Windows 4:3 (Angshuman Barkakoty), I Am a Poet (Shashanka Das & Deep Choudhury), Lemon Brothers Fall (Utpal Choudhury), The Silent Darkness (Jhulan Krishna Mahanta), IF (Khanjan Kishore Nath), Being Jobless (Shrutismita Changkakoti), 19/87 (Wanphrang K Diengdoh & Dondor E Lyngdoh), Bond (Anubhav Mahanta) and The 4th Law of Motion (Deepkamal Gogoi)


The festival will have a special tribute to young filmmaker Anghsuman Borkotoky by screening his film “Doctor, Nurse & Patient”, while another film by him Windows 4:3 will be in competition.


The prizes that will be given away in the competition section are for the Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Editing and Best Cinematography. The winners will be awarded with Golden and Silver Rhino along with certificates.


"The GISFF is an important initiative to create a platform to discuss, disseminate and in future market short fiction films, a genre that is finding more and more popularity all over the world in recent times. Young Assamese film entrepreneur Prithish Chakraborty of Creovaent Productions has developed the concept of the festival and I am sure in the coming years it will emerge as an important and exciting event in the film festival calendar of India," GISFF director and National Award-winning film critic Utpal Borpujari said.


  • 14131 reads

Add new comment

Other Contents by Author

GHADC Polls Postponed After Violence in West Garo Hills

SHILLONG, Mar 11: The Meghalaya government has postponed the elections to the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) that were scheduled to be held on April 10, 2026, following violent clashes in West Garo Hills that left two people dead. Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma announced the decision on Wednesday, saying the state government reviewed the prevailing law-and-order situation in the Garo Hills region before deciding to defer the polls. The unrest erupted during the nomination process in Chibinang in West Garo Hills, where clashes broke out between groups supporting and opposing the participation of non-tribal candidates in the GHADC elections. Two persons were killed...

Meghalaya High Court Quashes ST Certificate Rule for GHADC Polls

The Meghalaya High Court has set aside a controversial notification that made possession of a Scheduled Tribe (ST) certificate mandatory for candidates contesting the upcoming elections to the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC). Delivering the judgment on March 10, Justice H. S. Thangkhiew ruled that the February 17, 2026 notification issued by the GHADC Executive Committee lacked legal authority and did not follow the procedure required under the Assam and Meghalaya Autonomous Districts (Constitution of District Councils) Rules, 1951. The court observed that the notification effectively barred non-tribal voters and candidates from participating in the council elections...

Violence Erupts in Garo Hills, Meghalaya, Amid Election Tensions

TURA, Meghalaya – March 11, 2026: Tensions surrounding the upcoming elections to the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC), scheduled for April 10, have triggered violent clashes in the West Garo Hills district of Meghalaya, leaving two people dead and several others injured. The unrest has also resulted in widespread vandalism and arson in several areas of the district. The tensions stem from a controversial notification requiring candidates contesting the council elections to possess valid Scheduled Tribe (ST) certificate documentation. The rule has effectively prevented many non-tribal residents—particularly Bengali-speaking Muslims living in the plains belt areas such as...

International Women’s Day Observed by NEADS in Jorhat

North East Affected Area Development Society (NEADS), a grassroots development organisation based in Jorhat working with people’s struggles and community development initiatives, observed International Women’s Day at Chumoni Chapori village under the Jhanjimukh area in Jorhat district on Sunday, bringing together local women, community leaders and youth to celebrate the achievements and contributions of women in society. The programme was organized with the participation of women from riverine communities who shared their experiences, challenges and aspirations for greater social and economic empowerment. The event focused on raising awareness about women’s rights, gender equality and...

Assamese Poet Jiban Narah’s The Yellow Metaphor Published by Penguin

A significant milestone for literature from Northeast India has been marked with the publication of The Yellow Metaphor, a collection of poems by Assamese poet Jiban Narah, now released by Penguin Random House India. The book is a translated anthology of Narah’s poetry and is considered a rare achievement for the region. It is reportedly the first translated poetry collection by a single poet from Northeast India to be published by Penguin, and among only a handful of works in a regional Indian language to receive such recognition from the global publishing house. The Yellow Metaphor brings together 99 selected poems written over a span of 33 years, reflecting Narah’s long poetic...

Meeting Urges Tai-Ahoms to Record Taoism and Tai-Ahom as Mother Tongue in Census

Sivasagar, March 6: A meeting of organisations associated with the religious and intellectual affairs of the Tai-Ahom community was held on Thursday (March 5) at the public auditorium of Bakata Parijat Panchayat in Sivasagar district. The meeting was chaired by Jibeshwar Mohan Deva, founding principal of Tingkhang College. Several prominent personalities attended the meeting, including Manaranjan Baruah, president of the Mohan-Deodhai-Bailung Sanmilan; Vidya Phukan, president of the Mohan-Deodhai-Bailung Pandit Parishad; former president of Phra-Lung-Moung Assam Golap Gohain; secretary Pranjal Mohan; noted Tai cultural researcher Kamal Jyoti Mohan; Tai-Ahom scholar Nripen Mohan;...

Assam’s Move for OIL Stake Sparks Debate

Guwahati, Feb 28: The Assam government’s decision to seek a 5 per cent stake in Oil India Limited (OIL) has triggered discussion on the State’s long-term approach to the oil and gas sector in the Northeast. The proposal, under which Assam has sought a minority share in OIL — where the Government of India holds 56 per cent — will be examined by the Centre, Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma stated that the State is extending full cooperation to oil sector companies and urged that shares be allocated to Assam to support smoother functioning and stronger coordination. Reacting to the development, Shantikam Hazarika — former Chairman of...

Citizen Flags Data, Nutrition Gaps in HPV Vaccination Drive

New Delhi, March 1: Concerns have been raised over the national HPV vaccination campaign launched on February 28, 2026, with a citizen questioning its scientific basis, operational preparedness, and public health prioritisation. In a public statement, Donthi N. Reddy said that not a single state has published baseline data on cervical cancer incidence or HPV prevalence prior to the rollout. Without such baseline indicators, he argued, outcomes cannot be measured, and without measurable outcomes, the reported annual expenditure of ₹1,300 crore cannot be properly evaluated. The campaign involves administration of the HPV vaccine Gardasil-4 to 14-year-old girls across the country, aiming...

NEADS Assam Participates in the 13th Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development at UNESCAP

North-East Affected Area Development Society (NEADS), a grassroots civil society organisation based in Jorhat, Assam, participated in the 13th Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD), convened by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) from 24–27 February, 2026, at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok. Tirtha Prasad Saikia, Director of NEADS, represented the organisation at the Forum. He also participated in his capacity as the Constituency Focal Point for People Affected by Conflicts and Disasters and as a Regional Coordinating Committee Member of the Asia Pacific Regional CSO Engagement Mechanism (APRCEM). During...

APCC Files ‘Chargesheet 2026’ Against BJP-Led Assam Government in ‘People’s Court’

The Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) on Wednesday submitted a detailed “Chargesheet 2026” against the BJP-led Assam government, symbolically placing it before what it termed the “People’s Court of Assam.” The chargesheet targets the government headed by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, covering the period from May 10, 2021 to February 18, 2026. In a press briefing in Guwahati, APCC leaders alleged large-scale corruption, economic mismanagement, constitutional violations, and failure to protect the rights of indigenous communities. The document lists 20 major charges, including the alleged operation of a “syndicate raj,” accumulation of illegal wealth, rising public debt, and...