“Children of the River” at German Film Festival

Opening ceremony of film festival

“Children of the River: The Xihus of Assam” a 29 minute documentary film on the highly endangered river dolphins of the Brahmaputra was selected for the competitive section of the “Bollywood and Beyond” Indian Film festival held at Stuttgart, Germany from July16-20, 2008.

The film is produced and scripted by noted journalist and writer Sanjoy Hazarika and directed by filmmaker Maulee Senapati. Senapati was officially invited by the film festival authorities to the Stuttgart Festival where he also participated in a panel discussion session. The film’s screening was held on 19th July to a receptive audience.

Maulle near the festival venue

This was the only film from India’s North-east which was screened at the competitive section of the festival. Earlier, “Children of the River” was invited to the Mumbai International Film Festival where the North East Package of films, curated by film critic Chandan Sarmah, was launched with the screening of the 54-minute documentary “A River’s Story, the Quest for the Brahmaputra,” by the noted director  Jahnu Barua; Mr. Hazarika produced and scripted that film; both films were made under the banner of Mimesha Productions, his production house. The Brahmaputra film was shot on location in Tibet, North-east India and Bangladesh and has been screened at London, New York, Washington, Denver, Lexington, Bellagio, Dhaka and New Delhi.