Five films from North East India win best regional film awards at 63rd National Film Awards presented by Directorate of Film Festivals.Kothanodi from Assam won the Best Assamese Film award. The film is directed by Bhaskar Hazarika. A stylised, poetic film, inter-weaving four folk stories, evoking the terrifying undercurrents of human mind as depicted in folk mythology.
Onaatah from Meghalaya won the Best Khasi Film award. The film is directed by National Award winner Pradip Kurbah. The film illustrates a sensitive portrayal of a rape victim in the course of her revival, in the healing background of the tribal setting.
Eibusu Yaohanbiyu from Manipur won the Best Manipuri Film award. It is a film about the victory of a differently-abled boy's attempt to join a football team.
Kima’s Lode Beyond the Class from Mizoram won the Best Mizo Film award. The film is produced by the Children’s Film Society, India. The film revolves around an adventurous coming-of-age story of a boy, set in the pristine environments of Mizoram.
The Head Hunter from Arunachal Pradesh won the Best Wancho Film award. Directed by Nilanjan Datta, it is the first film in the Wancho language. The film depicts a cinematic contemplation on the lives of the Wancho tribe, regarding the balance required in modernising tribal environment, while intruding and displacing their lifestyles.
Apart from these, Tezpur 1962 directed by Samujjal Kashyap from Assam and produced by Films Division of India won Best Investigative Film. Also Meghachandra Kongbam from Manipur won Best Film Critic award (Swarna Kamal) which includes a cash prize of Rs 75,000.