Directed by debutant Bidyut Kotoky, the double-version film in Assamese and Hindi is among five films being heavily promoted by producers, the National Film Development Corporation at the Cannes Marche de Film (market section).
The film, titled As The River Flows/Ekhon Nedekha Nodir Xipaare (literally meaning “across the unseen river”), is currently under post-production and expected to be ready for release by around September-October.
Kotoky, who hails from Assam, says the film was inspired by the Sanjoy Ghose incident but has nothing to do with it directly. “It is more a story about all the people who have gone missing in conflict zones all over the world,” he says. The director, who had won a special mention at the 53rd National Film Awards for his documentary on travelling commercial theatre groups in Assam titled Bhraimoman Theatre — Where Othello Sails with Titanic, has highlighted a provision of the Indian Penal Code, according to which a person gone missing cannot be declared dead before seven years.
The film has been extensively shot in Assam and will be a vehicle to project the Vaishnavaite and tribal culture and lifestyle of the region, says Kotoky.
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