INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL OF INDIA 2003

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Non-Feature Film

THE MORUNG: SILENT WITNESS OF THE BRAVE WANCHO

English/35 minutes/16 mm (35 mm blowup)/Colour

SYNOPSIS

The Wanchos are a major tribe of the Tirap district of Arunachal Pradesh in the northeast of India. They had well-institutionalised dormitory system, which characterized the socio-political activities of each Wancho village and at times determined their very survival. The morung or the Po, the dormitory system, is today merely a relic of the past, existing in its original form in just a few villages in the remote areas near the Burma border. In search of the dormitory, Dr Jayanto Sarkar, an anthropologist who studies the role of the morung in Wancho society 30 years ago, retraces his footsteps. His journey begins from Khonsa, the district headquarters, and takes him to the sub-divisional headquarters at Longding, where 32,366 Wanchos occupy 41 villages. Now the director of the Anthropological Survey of India, Dr Sarkar finds many changes in the Wancho way of life.

CREDITS

Producer: Anthropological Survey of India

Director: Bappa Ray

Camera: Barun Raha

Sound: Aloke Dey

Editor: Gurpreet Singh