Shillong, May 4: Filmmaker Nicholas Kharkongor is pulling out of the Cannes representation in the wake of the controversy over it.
Kharkongar said on Thursday that he was excited to go to Cannes, representing Meghalaya, “but in the light of the controversy, I am pulling out of it”.
Kharkongor was taking a short film, Ka Dewlynnong (The Island), to the Cannes festival.
“It is a film that I am very proud of and extremely close to my heart, not least because I had the honour to work with such talented actors in Shillong, like Albert Mawrie, Elizer Bareh, Sweety Pala and a dozen others. The film was shot entirely in Meghalaya. It is produced by Sohum Shah films, the producers of The Ship of Theseus (which won the National Award Best Film in 2013) and Tumbadd, which also screened at Cannes and is quite a cult film today,” the director said.
“Ka Dewlynnong will be screened at the India Pavilion, and wherever else I will get a chance to show it. It is part of an anthology of films from all of India produced by Sohum Shah films and will hopefully be on a streaming platform towards the latter part of the year,” he added.
The director also said that he would continue to try and make films in Meghalaya and use actors from the state in more mainstream projects from Mumbai. “I hope I will have the honour to represent Meghalaya another time,” he added.
Also read: https://meghalayamonitor.com/govt-action-to-follow-after-controversy-over-states-representation-in-cannes/
