‘The Nellie Story’ wins Best Script Award at Ajanta-Ellora International Film Festival
Assamese feature film The Nellie Story won the coveted Silver Kailasha Award for Best Script at the recently concluded 9th Ajanta-Ellora International Film Festival (AIFF). Written and directed by filmmaker Parthajit Baruah, the film takes a humanizing look at the Nellie massacre, a dark chapter in the socio-political history of Assam.
The jury, chaired by the acclaimed Indian actor Dhritiman Chatterjee, cited the film for its exploration of an important issue of contemporary resonance, offering humanistic perspective of suffering of innocent people. Baruah’s film was in competition with 8 other films in the Indian Competition category.
The other films in the Indian Competition Section included Manoj Shinde’s Valli, Jayant Digambar Somalkar’s Sthal, Shahrukhkhan Chavada’s Kayo Kayo Colour? | Which Colour?, Shivadhwaj Shetty’s Koramma, Chhatrapal Ninawe’s Ghaath, Dhruv Solanki’s It’s All In Your Head, Lubdhak Chatterjee’s Whispers of Fire & Water, and Don Palathara’s Family.
“Our film’s selection in the Indian competition category at this festival with films that were premiered at platforms like Locarno, Berlin, TIFF, etc., was an honour in itself considering the level of competition. I feel truly humbled to receive this honourable award and even more inspired to continue doing good work”, said the debutant director. Earlier the film had the World Premiere on December 7 at the 29th Kolkata International Film Festival.
The festival also felicitated veteran lyricist-screenwriter Javed Akhtar with the Padmapani Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to cinema.
The Ajanta-Ellora Film Festival, which was earlier called Aurangabad International Film Festival (AIFF), is organised annually by Nath Group, Yashwantrao Chavan Centre, Mumbai, with the support of the government of Maharashtra and India.
The Nellie Story (Nellier Kotha) also had its theatrical release in cinema halls across Assam on December 8, 2023.