Manipuri movie Phum Shang wins Golden Conch

Manipuri film Phum Shang bagged the coveted Golden Conch award for Best Documentary at the recently concluded 14th Mumbai International Film Festival. This year’s edition of the MIFF for Documentary, Shorts and Animation formats saw Indian films winning big with five awards from among six categories in the International Competition section.

Directed by Hao Bam Pabankumar, an alumnus of the Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute, Phum Shang explores the serious implications of environmental degradation in the backdrop of the dying Loktak Lake — the largest fresh water lake in the northeast part of the country. Mr Pabankumar was also presented with a cash prize of '3 lakh at the presentation ceremony held on Wednesday.

Chandigarh-based documentary filmmaker Abhay Kumar’s Placebo tied with Swiss film My Name is Salt for the Golden Conch in Feature Length category and also bagged the award for Most Innovative Film. The jury, which included Don Askarian from Germany, Jesper Andersen from Denmark and Canadian filmmaker Mathiue Roy, adjudged the winners for six categories from 30 films that were in the fray in the International Competition section.

Other winners included Denmark-based debut filmmaker Nitesh Anjan’s Far From Home, which bagged the Dada Saheb Phalke Award for Best Film.