North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong-793022

Meghalaya State Film Policy Summit was organized

Date: Mar 9, 2023

The Summit on the Meghalaya State Film Policy was held on 9^th March 2023 at the Conference Hall of St. Anthony’s College, Shillong. The programme is jointly organized by the Department of Journalism & Mass Communication, North-Eastern Hill University, and the Department of Mass Media, St. Anthony’s College. The Inaugural Session was attended by Prof. B. Panda, Director ICSSR-NERC, as the Chief Guest while Father Gervasius Nongkseh, Vice-Principal of St. Anthony’s College, presided over it.

The summit had a diverse audience ranging from members of the film fraternity to the students of both Mass Media, St. Anthony’s and JMC, NEHU. Dr. Cherry Kharshiing, in her welcome speech, along with welcoming the chief guest, Prof B. Panda, emphasized on the attendees being a part of the history in establishing the film policy of Meghalaya. This was followed by the felicitation ceremony and a welcome song by Esther and team.

Dr. Kamaljit Chirom gave the keynote address in which he spoke about the importance of a film policy in promoting new artist and generating more revenue within the film industry. He went on to explain how it would be beneficial for different stakeholders in film fraternity including directors, producers, distributors, film study scholars, spot boys, etc. thereby including each and every one engaged in the filmmaking process.

The summit was further intellectually glorified by Prof. B. Panda, who went ahead to explain the importance of a policy in any field. He highlighted the role of the government as an enabler of the policies in the right direction and provider of the economic subsidies and incentives to the filmmakers.

The Summit had four sessions and each session was attended by a panel of filmmakers, exhibitors, distributors, producers, directors, actors, artistes, and other stakeholders of the film industry in Meghalaya. In the first session Dr. Cherry Kharshiing gave a presentation on the basic elements of a Film Policy that was already drafted by the organisers.

In the session on “Film Distribution, Taxation and Exhibition Mechanism in the state” moderated by Dr. Kamaljit Chirom, the panelists included Siddhant Goenka (Film Distributor and exhibitor), Commander Shangpliang (Filmmaker and President of Meghalaya Filmmaker Association) and Lucky D Kharsati (Filmmaker). While the session witnessed deliberated on the film distribution, mechanism and drafted policy, points were also made regarding the lack of distribution of Khasi films in the state. The focus was more on establishing new cinema halls in the state which are multi-purpose and in-line with malls in bigger cities.

The next business Session was on the topic “Status, Challenges and Requirements of Film Making in Meghalaya.” The session was moderated by Freddie Majaw and the panelists were producers and directors, namely Nicholas Kharkongor, Dominic Sangma, Prakash Chhetri and Simi Khongthiang. The panelists emphasized on the business of filmmaking in the state and the challenges faced by the individuals involved. The lack of experienced individuals both in terms of acting and behind the camera crew is something which was highlighted during this session. The speakers emphasized on how the policy needs to be future proof in order for it to be relevant even after 50 years.

The next business session discussed on the topic “Creation of autonomous film development societies” and it was moderated by moderated by Dr. Cherry Kharshiing, and the panelists included Lapdiang Syiem (theatre artist), Dr Barath N (Assistant Professor, Dept of JMC, NEHU), Dr Etawanda Saiborne (Associate Professor, Dept of Mass Media, St. Anthony’s College), and Raphael Warjri (painter, musician, filmmaker). The primary points of discussion included: easier certification for regional films, make the policy children and gender-sensitive, need of a film archive in the state.

The summit concluded with a summarizing speech by Dr. Rajni Chhetri in which she explained the major points and suggestions from across all the three sessions. Followed by a vote of thanks and a valedictory function, the Meghalaya State Film Policy summit successfully came to an end. The organizers intend to take notes of the discussions of the summit and frame a draft Film Policy to be submitted to the Meghalaya State Government for consideration.