BVFF 2023: Brahmaputra Valley Film Festival kickstarts after a 3-year hiatus

The eighth edition of the Brahmaputra Valley Film Festival was launched with an inaugural event in Guwahati on Thursday. The four day event aims to highlight the vibrant filmmaking talents in Northeast India while also serving as a destination for subversive, alternate cinema from across the country. Organised by Tattva Creations and Brahmaputra Foundation, BVFF 2023 is set to feature 30 films from over 200 entries, along with workshops, masterclasses, and panel discussions.

According to Tanushree Hazarika, the founder of BVFF, the idea for the film festival grew out of a discussion with her friend and filmmaker Reema Kagti. With an acute focus on highlighting and invigorating the filmmaking and film appreciation scene in Northeast India, the Brahmaputra Valley Film Festival was launched in 2013. After seven successful editions, the festival took a pandemic induced 3-year hiatus. Speaking about her efforts to bring BVFF back, Tanushree recounts, “Initially, there was some resistance as it was tough to get the filmmakers and producers on board. But due to the tremendous support, we are back again for an 8th edition and I am truly excited.” She then goes on to add, “We could have had this launch event at a multiplex but having this in a film studio (Jyoti Chitraban Film Studio) just enhances the sense of community and brings a rootedness to the event.”

The event was felicitated by chief guests like producer Ronnie Lahiri (Pink, Vicky Donor), filmmaker Leena Yadav (Teen Patti, Parched),  Assamese actor Aimee Baruah (Semkhor), National Award-winning sound designer Amrit Pritam, producer Sanjay Bhutiani (Mariam), and businessman Ranjit Barthakur. Leena Yadav said she was looking forward to, “Watching some good films and interacting with the community,” while Sanjay Bhutiani exclaimed, “Days are not far when you'd see Northeast films being screened at Cannes. They're bringing the world cinema here.” Producer Ronnie Lahiri noted, “I have been here since the 2nd edition. I'm glad it's back. This year they have added a lot of feature films which I’m happy about.” As festival director Tanushree Hazarika noted in the inaugural speech—due to BVFF’s collaboration with Amazon’s Prime Video—the film festival will also serve as a launchpad for filmmakers to make their pitches directly to the streamer. 

The opening ceremony featured performances by Sattriya dancer Mridusmita Das Bora and Guwahati’s own six piece band, Bottle Rockets. The inaugural ceremony then closed with the screening of a Hindi film Kooki, directed by Pranab Deka. The masterclass series will feature talents like Actor-Director Prakash Jha, Writer-Director Krishna DK, and Ketki Pandit (Associate Professor at Film and Television Institute of India). The festival will end on December 17 with the screening of the Malayalam film Footprints on Water. Directed by Nathalia Syam, the film stars Adil Hussain, Nimisha Sajayan, and Antonio Aakeel.