BAFTA award: 'Boong' captures Manipur's hope and pain
In London, the award for Best Children and Family Film went to a Manipuri-language production directed by Lakshmipriya Devi. Filming wrapped up before the outbreak of ethnic violence in 2023. The film touches upon timely topics such as migration and political tensions. In calling for peace, the filmmaker said that “forgiveness” is “humanity’s greatest strength”.
Rome (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Hope in Manipur, an Indian state stricken by ethnic conflict, reached the London stage of the British Academy Film Awards. The film Boong, written and directed by Lakshmipriya Devi, received the BAFTA Award for Best Children's and Family Film, beating out high-profile contenders like Zootopia 2 and Lilo & Stitch.
This is the first Indian feature film to win a BAFTA in this category, a victory that puts the spotlight on the northeastern Indian state, where ethnic tensions and violence have caused at least 260 deaths (a conservative figure) and displaced tens of thousands of people since 2023.
In a timely and moving speech, the director explained that the film is “rooted in a place that's very troubled, very much ignored and very underrepresented,” a situation also noted by Manipur’s state government, now led by Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh.
Devi’s address turned into a prayer for the return of peace to Manipur, where tensions persist between the majority Meitei ethnic group and the Kuki-Zo group.
The hope for peace is for “all the internally displaced children,” including the actors who starred in the film, that they may rediscover "their innocence and their dreams."
"We pray that no conflict is ever formidable enough to destroy the one super power that all of us have as human beings – that is forgiveness,” said Devi.
Filming Boong wrapped up before the outbreak of ethnic violence in May 2023. The picture, which centres on a young student's search for his missing father, did not receive much public attention in India.
The reason is that Manipuri's artistic works face greater distribution obstacles due to a small market and limited integration into the country's mainstream film industry, which uses Hindi, while Boong is in Manipuri.
The film tells the story of Brojendro 'Boong' Singh, a lively boy played by Gugun Kipgen, who lives with his mother in Imphal, the capital of Manipur.
His father has cut off contact with his loved ones after leaving the family to run a shop in Moreh, a border town with Myanmar. Refusing to believe reports of his father's death, Boong decides to bring him home as a “gift” to his mother.
With the help of his best friend Raju, he embarks on a journey in search of truth and answers.
Although the film adopts the children's point of view, the narrative touches upon important issues such as decades-old ethnic tensions, migration, distrust of politics, and the growing militarisation of the state on the border with Myanmar. All these themes have become even more relevant after the recent conflict.
A ray of hope is found in the main character, 12-year-old Boong, who is an ethnic Meitei, played by Gugun Kipgen, a member of the Kuki-Zo community.
The actor who plays Raju, on the other hand, comes from the Marwari community in Rajasthan, a state where people from this group are often viewed as foreigners.
A review in The Hollywood Reporter India noted that Boong "trusts its personal story to convey the history of a place without exoticising it”; this “forces us to remember that Boong and his fellow characters are humans before they're Manipuri, Hindu, invisibilised or Indian".
Before winning the BAFTA, Boong premiered in the Discovery section of the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, and was subsequently screened at several international film festivals including the Warsaw International Film Festival, the International Film Festival of India, the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival and the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne.
Following the award, Indian political leaders have been profuse with their congratulations.
For Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the film offered “a moment of immense joy, especially for Manipur”, highlighting "the immense creative talent in our nation".
“Rooted in the soil of Manipur, Boong is more than a film – it is a tribute to a homeland that remains resilient despite hardship,” said Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh, who is engaged in the difficult task of reconciliation.
Like Prime Minister Modi, he belongs to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
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