VENICE: Assam filmmaker Dr Bobby Sarma Baruah was named a member of the three-member jury of the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival, where she will evaluate and honour Asian films.
Baruah is serving on the jury alongside Ed Lejano, artistic director of the QCinema International Film Festival, and Asel Sherniyazova, co-founder and managing director of the Asian World Film Festival.
“Being part of the NETPAC jury at the Venice International Film Festival is an honour and an enriching experience. It has given me the opportunity to watch and engage closely with films from different countries, cultures and cinematic traditions across Asia,” Baruah said from Venice.
She said she looked forward to exchanging perspectives with the other jury members and contributing to the recognition and promotion of significant Asian cinema.
A National Award-winning filmmaker, producer, scriptwriter and film researcher from Assam, Baruah has made films rooted in social realities, cultural identities and the landscapes of the Northeast. Her films Adomya, Sonar Baran Pakhi, Mishing and Sikaisal have received Silver Lotus honours at the National Film Awards.
Her latest film, Rador Pakhi, was featured in the Indian Panorama section of the 55th International Film Festival of India.
The Venice assignment marked a shift from Baruah’s role as a filmmaker to that of an evaluator, with the jury assessing selected films from across the Asia-Pacific region on their cinematic, thematic and cultural qualities.
Baruah has previously served on juries at several national and international film festivals, including the National Film Awards, International Film Festival of India, Jeonju International Film Festival, Mumbai International Film Festival and International Film Festival of Kerala. She is also a member of NETPAC.
Her inclusion on the Venice jury brought an Assam filmmaker into a wider international discussion on Asian cinema, where films from diverse languages, cultures, histories and social realities are showcased and assessed.
Established in 1932, the Venice International Film Festival is the world’s oldest film festival and one of the major international platforms for cinema. The annual event brings together filmmakers, actors, critics and film professionals from across the world.
For Baruah, the assignment offered an opportunity to engage closely with contemporary Asian filmmaking while bringing to the international platform the perspective of a filmmaker whose work has remained rooted in Assam and the cultural realities of the Northeast.
