Arunachal’s Manisha Halai wins Australian award for debut film

Itanagar: Manisha Halai has won the Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC) award for her debut documentary — ‘Orange Beetle, Mother & I’.Halai, hailing from Wakro in Arunachal Pradesh’s Lohit district, also won the audience award during the ceremony in Bali, Indonesia recently.Currently working as training assistant with Green Hub at Tezpur in Assam, she participated in the ‘Docs by the Sea’ (DBTS) storytelling lab and pitching forum’ at Bali from Sept 4 to 10. Halai not only pitched for her film at an international platform for the first time, but was also the first Green Hub fellow to present a film at a global stage.A personal film about her mother, ‘Orange Beetle: Mother & I’ won two awards out of 292 entries from filmmakers across Asia.

It is Halai’s debut feature documentary and is in Kaman Mishmi language. The film, currently in its early development stage, is being produced by Academy-nominated filmmakers Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh. It was incubated at the Himalayan Story Lab, the first lab in India for filmmakers from the Himalayan regions.The prestigious, ‘Docs By The Sea(DBTS) storytelling lab’ is Asia’s leading documentary pitching platform, supporting emerging and established filmmakers through mentorship, co-production opportunities, and industry exposure.

It brings together independent documentary filmmakers from across Asia to pitch their projects to international producers, mentors, and industry professionals.Green Hub director Rita Banerjee expressed happiness on Halai’s achievement, saying, “Manisha is one of the first Green Hub fellows to pitch her work on a global stage.”A passionate storyteller, Halai, hails from Kathan village in Wakro circle and is one of the volunteer-activists of Lohit Youth Library Network and is currently the president of the Forum of Library Activists, Medo.Speaking from Bali, Halai said, “It’s a proud and unforgettable moment for me”.She thanked her family, mentors, teachers and fellow library volunteers for their constant encouragement to pursue her interests in making documentary films.