Overview
- Borun Thokchom’s documentary Battlefield is in the non-feature lineup, while Dinesh Naorem’s debut Oitharei is selected in the feature section at the 56th IFFI.
- Battlefield will premiere on November 22, 2025, at 9:30 a.m. at INOX – Audi II, Old GMC Building, Campal, Panjim.
- The selections restore Manipur’s presence after no entries in 2024 and end a seven-year gap for a Manipuri feature since Eigi Kona in 2019.
- Battlefield was developed at the 2022 Imphal Documentor lab run by MSFDS with DRI Kolkata and the Television Cine Foundation Manipur, after a decade of filming.
- The documentary explores WWII Imphal battle sites and today’s humanitarian wounds in Manipur, while Oitharei follows a widow’s struggle during ethnic unrest, with MSFDS calling the recognition a moment of celebration.