Guwahati: 60-year-old Laibi Phanjoubam, runs a handloom and weaving craft shop in a remote village called Andro, nestled in the northeastern state of Manipur. On the face of it, it seems quite an ordinary story, but Laibi is no ordinary woman. She also runs an all-female football club fighting against entrenched patriarchy, economic hardships and orthodoxy in her ancient village.
Laibi’s trail-blazing tales in a newspaper article is what caught the eye of the National Award-Winning Manipuri filmmaker Meena Longjam, which today has been brought to the silver screen as ‘Andro Dreams.’ The documentary is the story of Laibi, an old woman with a spirited soul, and her three-decade-old all girls’ football club Andro Mahila Mandal Association Football Club (AMMA-FC). It captures their challenges and struggles with Nirmala, their most promising young football player in the spotlight.
The Manipuri Film ‘Andro Dreams,’ a film of 63-minutes, opened the non-feature film section of the Indian Panorama at the 54th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa. The avant-gardist documentary is led by a trinity: of a female director, producer and cast.
Speaking of the inspiring story of Laibi, the director of the documentary, Longjam, elaborated that she is the fourth girl child in her family to be disregarded by her family. However, despite the odds, she became the first woman in her village to complete matriculation and become a primary school teacher. She also established handloom and weaving craft shops in her village.
“It is a story of our people, who are unheard and not represented in other media. My “accidental” directorial ventures are an endeavor to show the lives of people of Manipur who remain obscured in the mainstream media. ‘Andro Dreams’ captures the real life of Laibi and the girls of her football club fighting against all odds,” Longjam said about the passion-fuelled project.
Talking on the genre of documentary filmmaking, Longjam said that making a documentary requires building a relationship with the subject over a long period of time and it cannot be a one-off project.
Longjam is a legend-in-the-making, as she became the first Manipuri woman to win a national award for her film ‘Auto Driver’ earlier.
Laibi, the protagonist of the film, expressed her happiness on making of the documentary as it presents her reality and struggles, which she has been honoured to present to the world.
“Women are “silent pillars” of the society and I want to bring as many to the forefront as much as possible and provide them the required opportunities. I want to encourage, motivate and support the incredible talent that has skills but lacks the funding,” said Jani Viswanath, the executive producer of ‘Andro Dreams,’ on her motivation to fund such films.
The Indian Panorama section at IFFI, which offers an excellent cinematic experience for the film-lovers, opened on Tuesday with the Malayalam film ‘Aattam,’ in the feature section and the Manipuri film ‘Andro Dreams’ in the non-feature section. This year, 25 feature films and 20 non-feature films will be showcased at the film festival, which is being held from November 20 to November 28, 2023, the release said.
The Indian Panorama was introduced in 1978 as part of the IFFI umbrella to promote Indian films along with India’s rich culture and heritage with the help of cinematic art. Since its inception, the Indian Panorama has been completely devoted to showcasing the best Indian films of the year, it added.