Lipika Singh Darai’s Docufilm ‘Backstage’ On Odisha Puppeteers In Indian Panorama 2021 List

Bhubaneswar: No Odia feature film has been picked in the Indian Panorama section for screening during the 52nd edition of the International Film Festival of India in Goa from November 20- 28.

Only one Odia film, ‘Backstage’ by Lipika Singh Darai, has made it in the non-feature film category.

A total of 25 feature films have been selected to be screened during IFFI, a PIB release said. The jury’s choice for the opening feature film of Indian Panorama 2021 is ‘Semkhor’ (Dimasa) directed by Aimee Baruah.

Five Bengali and as many in Marathi films have made it to the list. A film in Sanskrit will also be screened at the festival. These films have been selected from a pool of 221 contemporary Indian films.

There are 20 in the non-film category and the festival will open with ‘Ved…The Visionary’ (English) directed byRajiv Parkash.

Lipika, the lone woman filmmaker from Odisha, has portrayed the life and struggles of the puppeteers of Odisha in her film 85-minute documentary, Backstage, produced by the Films Division. The premiere of the film was held at the 39th Asolo Art Film Festival in Italy in August.

The four-time National Award winner spent eight years researching and documenting the life of the puppeteers in Angul, Ganjam and Kendrapada fighting to save their craft. 

The festival is being organised by the Directorate of Film Festivals of India, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, in collaboration with the Goa government.

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