Summary: Nidaner-Hookah is an experimental short documentary in which a Miya poet, Mirza Lutfar Rahman, takes the audience on a journey to Dhamapara char (a sandbar in the Brahmaputra river) of the Barpeta district of Assam. The poet's musings on identity, politics, power hierarchies, and struggles of communities living in a constant state of flux are juxtaposed by visual imagery depicting the everyday lives of the people. The film is also an attempt to document a brief moment in time of riverine communities in Assam whose cultural identities are in a large part shaped by the river itself.
The Story of the Boatman, was conceptualised and created by Debashish Nandi and Vandana Menon. It is a collaboration between filmmakers, photographers, folk artists, and local riverine communities in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. The core team comprises of Vandana Menon, Debashish Nandi, Arghadeep Barua, and Gaurav Talukdar. 'The Story of the Boatman' is based on socio-cultural and political aspects and issues of the Miya community living in the Char-chapori of Assam.
