The Annual General Meeting of the India organisation of the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique) approved the membership of four Indian film critics namely Siraj Syed, Narendra Bandabe, Meghachandra Kongbam and Minakshi Dutta.
In an emailed message communicated by eminent film critic MK Raghavendra, the Secretary of FIPRESCI-India on December 7; the president and the executive committee of FIPRESCI India welcomed Meghachandra Kongbam as a member of the National Section of FIPRESCI International.
Meghachandra Kongbam had the passion of cinema after he encountered the subject of film medium during his university days in Benaras Hindu University while pursuing Post Graduate Bachelor Degree in Journalism in 1978. In an educational tour of the journalism students in Mumbai in 1979, he along with some of his classmates led by Mohd Salim skipped the itinerary of the journey and visited the Mohon Film Studio, Andheri East in Mumbai where they interviewed legendary film maker Hrishikesh Mukherjee, met Amitabh Bachchan, Rajesh Khanna and Sachin, and watched the shooting of Sachin in a hotel scene of Satte Pe Satta.
After acquiring knowledge of writing on cinema from the Film Appreciation Course in FTII, Pune in 1985; he plunged into the profession as film columnist in leading newspapers and journals of Manipur including Poknapham since 1985, and contributes articles on cinema in national newspapers & journals.
This year, he contributed two important articles- Aribam Syam Sharma: A Genius of Indian Cinema in the publication of the 80 Years of Assamese Cinema, Guwahati and Journey of Manipuri Cinema in the special publication of Indian Film Culture published by the Federation of Film Societies of India, Mumbai.
For his contribution in writing on cinema, Meghachandra Kongbam was honoured with memento and certificate as film critic in the Silver Jubilee Celebration of Manipuri Cinema in 1997; awarded the Best Film Journalist Award 2010 by the Film Forum, Manipur, and the prestigious Best Film Critic Award of 63rd National Film Awards 2015.
FIPRESCI and Manipuri Cinema: The organizations of professional film critics and film journalists, established in different countries for the promotion and development of film culture and for the safeguarding of professional interests, constitute the International Federation of the Cinematographic Press (Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique – FIPRESCI) – an institution founded on the 6th of June 1930. At present it has members in more than 50 countries worldwide.
The purpose of the Federation is to develop, on an international scale, the activities of its members, and particularly: To safeguard the freedom and ethics of film criticism and film journalism and of information, To promote and expand the idea of the cinema as a means of artistic expression and of cultural education. To discuss, define and confirm the specific rights and obligations of film criticism and journalism, and To encourage the exchange of ideas and experience among film critics and film journalists of all countries and thereby create, outside all ideological and political distinctions, a new foundation for a permanent dialogue.
To promote film-art and to encourage new and young cinema; the FIPRESCI prize is awarded at international film festivals or at film festivals of particular importance. Haobam Paban Kumar, the Indian film maker is the only recipient of FIPRESCI prize from Manipur. He came into the limelight with his -AFSPA 1958, which won the International Jury and FIPRESCI awards at the ninth Mumbai International Film Festival 2006.
Source: Imphal Free Press
