2 National film awards for Syam Sharma
Source: Hueiyen News Service

Imphal, March 18 2013: Renowned Manipuri filmmaker Aribam Syam Sharma is once again in the spotlight with two of his films winning the highest honour in two different categories of the 60th National Film Festival, the winners of which were announced by the Directorate of Film Festival today.

Syam Sharma's Feature Film 'Leibaklei' won the Best Film in the category of Regional Language (Manipuri) while his non-feature film 'Manipuri Pony' (Manipuri & English) won the Best Exploration/Adventure Film (Including Sports) award.

While 'Leibaklei' is based on a play of the same name written by late Arambam Samarendra; 'Manipuri Pony' is a film on Manipuri Pony, a breed of horse best suited for playing Polo or Sagol Kangjei.

'Leibaklei', which won the Best Film in the category of Regional Language (Manipuri), would be honoured with a Rajat Kamal while both the producer and director would get a cash award of Rs 1 lakh each.

On the other hand, 'Manipuri Pony', the winner of Best Exploration/Adventure Film (Including Sports) would be honoured with a Rajat Kamal and both the Producer and the Director of the film would be rewarded a cash prize of Rs 50,000 each.

Ever since, feature films shot on digital format were allowed entry in the National Film Festival, Syam Sharma has become the first filmmaker to win an award.

But Syam Sharma is not a stranger to honour and award at the National Film festival.

Earlier, he had won awards for his feature film 'Ishanou' and non-feature film 'Indigenous Games of Manipur' in 1990 .

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