Songs of The Blue Hills- A film on contemporary Naga Folk Music

Synopsis:
Contrary to the general misconception even within India, the Nagas are not a single tribe. Rather, they comprise a range of ethnic communities spread across several states of Northeastern India and also Northwestern Myanmar. Like ethnic communities the world over, folk music and dances form the core of Naga culture, but what makes it even more important ethnographically is the fact that the Naga folk traditions also comprise the tradition of oral history-keeping. Naga folk songs, thus, could be like any other folk song, and also could be an historical account of an important incident from the past. At the turn of the 20th Century, Naga folk songs had taken a back seat as the early Western missionaries opposed singing of folk songs because they were perceived to be associated with primarily spirit worship. But now, while traditional folk music has staged a comeback, younger Naga musicians are also trying to marry their music with other forms of music – be it Jazz, Blues, Western Classical or Choral – to take these traditional, ancient sounds to a much wider, worldwide audience. This feature-length documentary is the first-ever film to present such a wide range of Naga music - and musicians - together. The idea is to take the viewer in a journey through contemporary forms of Naga folk music – through 20 songs that feature fully or partly in this film!



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Direction & Script: Utpal Borpujari
Producer: Girish Chandra Joshi, Director, Centre for Cultural 
Resources and Training, Ministry of Culture, Government 
of India
Cinematography: Biswajeet Changmai
Sound Design: Debajit Gayan
Editor: Umesh Kumar
Research: Aiyushman Dutta / Atanu Phukan / Utpal Borpujari
Art Direction: Aiyushman Dutta