By P. Sarojini
Mumbai, India (CWBN)_ The documentary film ‘I Rise’ is based on the real life of the famous ace boxer Laishram Sarita Devi from India. It is an inspiring documentary film which grabbed the attentions of numerous viewers and won the best documentary at the 9th Mumbai Short International Film Festival (MSIFF) 2020. The result of the competition was announced in Mumbai on Sunday.
The documentary film I Rise was directed and cinematographed by the filmmaker Borun Thokchom, who is also a winner of Manipur’s National award, and the film was produced by Films Division Mumbai. Among the 19 documentary films that were shortlisted to the final selection in the competition, the 52-minute documentary film I Rise was awarded the best documentary of the year 2020.
As mentioned earlier, Borun’s documentary I Rise is based on the life of the Indian boxer and a seven-time Asian Championships medalist Sarita Devi. The first scene of the film takes the audience to the historic 2014 Asian Games held in Incheon. The scene begins with boxer Sarita refusing to accept the bronze medal following a protest over the decision of the game.
The young and enthusiastic filmmaker Borun Thokchom expressed happiness over receiving the Best Documentary award. He attributed the success to the entire team and to Sarita’ s family. He said, “I feel happy for the recognition. But I wanted to give credit to the entire team of I Rise and Sarita’s family for their full cooperation.” Earlier, Borun had also won National Award in 2011 for his documentary film, The Silent Poet.
The final 19 films for the competition were selected from a pool of 392 films from more than 55 countries. Among the 19 final films, four films are from India. Apart from the best documentary award, I Rise also won the Best Film on Women Outstanding Achievement Award in October at the Tagore International Film Festival 2020 in West Bengal.
