The Bala Kailasam Memorial Award (BKMA) was given to Mukul Haloi, for his Assamese documentary Loralir Sadhukatha, on Saturday at the NFDC Tagore Film Centre.
The documentary, which has been scripted, shot, directed and edited by him, was previously screened at several film festivals including the Mumbai Film Festival 2018.
Loralir Sadhukatha, which translates to tales from our childhood, attempts to recollect and present the lives of people in 1990s Assam, amidst the conflict and violence with the presence of the army and the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA).
“With violence from both sides in the 1990s, it had become a part of our daily lives in the state,” Mr. Haloi said.
He had graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India and made the documentary after being selected for a fellowship from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences.
In a discussion with documentary filmmaker R.V. Ramani, who was also on the nomination panel, Mr. Haloi spoke about how he had left the state in 2008 to study. “For me, it was also about having a reconciliation and coming to terms with those years,” he added.
Mr. Haloi was given a citation as well as a cash prize of ₹50,000 as a part of the award. The documentary had been chosen from nearly 20 entries which the trust had received.
“The award is a fitting tribute to the memory of Bala Kailasam who always believed that the role of the media is to not just entertain, but to engage productively and create an impact,” said Shylaya Chetlur, the founder and managing trustee of Cinema Rendezvous trust which has instituted the award.
