Manipur’s legendary filmmaker Aribam Syam Sharma’s Manipuri Pony will represent the State in the forthcoming 44th International Film Festival of India 2013 to be held in Goa from November 20-30 this year.

Besides Sharma’s film, the North East will be represented by Manju Borah’s Mising language film Ko:Yad and documentaries By Lane No.2 by Utpal Datta and Resonance of Mother’s Melody by Dip Bhuyan, according to sources.

Twenty-six feature films and 16 non-feature films have been selected for the festival. The jury for the feature films, headed by renowned filmmaker and editor B Lenin, selected 25 films out of a total of 210 eligible entries.

Hindi film Pan Singh Tomar, directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia, which won the Best Feature Film Award at the recent 60th National Film Awards, gained direct entry to become the 26th film on the list, which the nine-member jury took 21 days to finalise.

On the other hand, the non-feature films jury, chaired by well-known director Raja Sen, picked 15 films out of 130 eligible entries. Kashmiri film Shepherds of Paradise (director Raja Shabir Khan), which won the Best Non-Feature Film Award at the recent 60th National Film Awards, got direct entry to be the 16th film on the list. The five-member jury took nine days to finalise the selections.

Meanwhile, Manipuri documentary film Gun and a God directed by Sonia Nepram has received the Jury’s Choice award in the Mumbai Women’s International Film Festival2013. The award was received by the director during a function held in Mumbai. The film is about the journey of a woman who was victimised by the structural violence of the society.

It may be mentioned that Manipur produces over 50 video films a year on an average.