Songs of Mashangva
India / 2010 / 64 min / Colour
Italian premiere
Christian evangelism and the pop culture that often accompanies it have reached the mountainous regions of Manipur, in northeastern India. With the spread of these new musical tendencies and religious customs, the typical, ancient traditions of the Tangkhul Naga tribes, which have survived over thousands of years, are at risk of disappearing. The musician Rewben Mashangva travelled through the villages of this region, on the border between India and Burma, to gather from the voices of the elders the ancient melodies and texts and to learn the names and ways of playing the antique instruments. Rewben reinvents the rhythms, melodies, and words in his own music that he calls Naga Foll Blues. With his performances he attempts to preserve and disseminate the ancient, original local music, repeating a message of attachment and pride for his own musical traditions, without an inferiority complex in the face of increasingly invasive western cultural models.
Oinam Doren
After studying at the College of St. Anthony in Shillong, he worked as a television producer. He then founded the company Ourvillage, devoting himself to making documentaries in which he investigates the disintegration of the traditional and musical culture of Indian tribes under the pressure of the Christian, consumer-oriented West. He participated in the XVIII Film Festival della Lessinia with the film Songs of Mashangwa (2010).
Credits
Language English Subject Oinam Doren Screenplay Oinam Doren Cinematography Oinam Doren Sound Shankar Sapam, Sunil Loitongbam Editing Romi Lamabam Music Rewben Mashangva Producer Oinam Doren Production company Ourvillage Films
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