Guwahati: Acclaimed Khasi filmmaker and musician Wanphrang K Diengdoh’s latest film “The Blood and the Border” will be screened at Portland Hall in London, United Kingdom on March 14.
The film represents the culmination of a trilogy of films by Wanphrang K Diengdoh.
“The Blood and the Border” follows Diengdoh’s previous works, “Because We Did Not Choose” (2017) and “Where the Clouds End” (2015).
This trilogy undertakes a comprehensive re-examination of Khasi society in Northeast India, Diengdoh’s place of origin.
The film “Because We Did Not Choose” explored the experiences of indigenous labour during World War I and their confrontation with modernity.
It retraces the steps of tribal labourers from the Northeast who participated in World War II.
“Where the Clouds End” delved into complex themes such as race, purity, insider-outsider politics, belonging, and the impact of international borders.
The “Blood and the Border” is a documentary on the rituals of the Khyrim kingdom in Northeast India and their encounters with Christian missionary activities in the 1800s, nation-states, and the current challenges posed by an atmosphere of increasing intolerance.
Wanphrang K Diengdoh is an award-winning filmmaker from Shillong whose works have deeply explored the issue of tribal identity.
He is also the founder of Reddur Productions.
Wanphrang’s short fiction film, 19/87 won Best Film, Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography awards at the Globe International Silent Film Festival 2011 and was in the official selection for International Documentary and Short Film Festival 2011.
It also won several awards at the Guwahati International Short Film Festival (GISFF) in 2011.
He toured 15 cities in India and Nepal with his music album Folktales from the parking lot and Foreign Monoliths released in 2015.
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In his first feature-length fiction film, Lorni- The Flaneur, he aims to examine the Khasi identity and its linkage to history. Set in contemporary Shillong, the film revolves around an aspiring detective.
Another film, My Name Is Eeooow, co-written and edited by him won the Royal Anthropological Institute’s Ethnographic Film Festival in the UK in 2017.
