Photo Courtesy: nenow
Guwahati: Assamese filmmakers are hitting the national stage. Three documentaries have been selected for the Focus Long Documentary section at the 18th International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala. The event runs from September 25 to 30, 2026, in Thiruvananthapuram.
Shimmering Odyssey leads the pack. Directors Prasun Goswami and Raunak Shivhare explore community-led education in conflict-hit Bastar. The 42-minute film already appeared at festivals in Tamil Nadu, Thrissur, and Spain. Tezpur University alum Goswami and Assamese school teacher Dhiraj Mazumdar crafted the work. It moves past simple insurgency tropes. It captures kids and communities rebuilding in the face of violence.
Kalpajyoti Bhuyan brings Dreams of a Forgotten Past to the festival. This project came from the Altaf Mazid Youth Documentary Fellowship 2024-25. It tracks the decline of single-screen cinema halls in Guwahati. The film acts as an archival record of local culture. It observes a dying way of life.
Manoj Barpujari presents Mode of Revival. This film hits a nerve: the extinction of the Khamyang language in eastern Assam. This Tai-Kadai language is critically endangered. The documentary follows activists and students working to save it. It features octogenarian speakers like Bhugeswar Thowmung and Melbourne University linguist Stephen Morey. These stories highlight the power of collective action. As the film notes, the project captures language preservation as a living community movement where "memory, performance and intergenerational transmission become tools of survival." These three films show that Assamese cinema is taking on universal themes of resilience and identity.
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