Bhubaneswar: ‘Backstage’, an Odia docufilm which explores the life and times of three veteran puppeteers who have contributed to the growth and survival of the form, will be screened at the 17th edition of the Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Short Fiction, and Animation films (MIFF-2022) at the Nehru Centre, Worli, in Mumbai at 2 pm on Wednesday.
The documentary by woman filmmaker Lipika Singh Darai tugs at the heartstrings, enlivening the process, the transition, the loss of originality and the socio-political milieu that shaped puppetry in Odisha. It was the only Odia docufilm to have been screened at the nine-day-long 52nd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa in November 2021.
The filmmaker has made several independent films in Odia. She studied Sound Recording and Design at the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune. She has won four National Awards–three for film direction and one for sound recording and mixing–which she received while she was still at the film school for her second-year project.
Also Read: Imbibing The Resilience Of Odisha Puppeteers, Lipika Singh Darai Plans All-Odia Feature Film
A total of 102 films are being screened under the Competition Category – 35 in international competition and 67 in the national competition. 18 Films will be screened under the ‘MIFF Prism Category’. A special package of 11 films from Bangladesh, including the critically acclaimed film ‘Hasina- A Daughter’s Tale’, is also being presented at MIFF 2022 to commemorate the country’s 50 years of Independence.
