Mumbai, Feb 6 (IANS) A package of 33 movies from the north-east, which included both short films and documentaries, was showcased at the ongoing Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) and impressed the viewers as they were most varied in terms of subjects and treatment.

The variety of subjects handled by the filmmakers from the eight tiny states of the region was as heterogeneous as their cultures and this has made the special package of the region unique.

The package, curated by writer-journalist Chandan Sarmah, was inaugurated by Aribam Shyam Sharma at the Godrej Theatre in the NCPA Complex in south Mumbai Tuesday.

The opening film was Jahnu Barua's 55-minute movie 'A River's Story: The Quest for the Brahmaputra'. The movie treats the river as the main character and shows how it influences the people of the states and the ecosystem of the land as it flows through it from Tibet in the east to the Bay of Bengal in the west.

The package included Aribam Shyam Sharma's 'Guru Laimayum Thambalngoubi Devi', a 25-minute documentary on living guru of classical Manipuri dance and the first female artiste of the Manipuri movie. Interestingly, there was a 28-minute documentary on Sharma by Brajabidhu Singh.

First-generation filmmakers, including women, aged between 24 and 28, have made most of the movies shown at MIFF.

Jyoti Prasad Das' 28-minute documentary 'The Green Warriors Apatanis' is centred on women of the Apatani tribes of Arunachal Pradesh. At a time when women are going to great extent to look beautiful, these tribal women do exactly the opposite - they make themselves look ugly by covering their faces with black pigment to avoid being abducted by the warrior tribesmen.

Noted Assamese filmmaker Gautom Bora's 35-minute documentary 'Beyond Desth' deals with the Buddhist tantric rituals of Gelukpa sect of the Monpa tribes of Arunachal Pradesh who revere death as they believe the end of life opens the door for re-birth.

Insurgency has been bane of northeast region for nearly three decades now. How this scourge has affected the normal life in the region is the subject of Meghalaya's director Bobby Wahengbam's 'Joseph Ki Macha'. Another entry from Meghalaya is 'Bad Places'. Tarun Bhartiya directs it.

Drinking rice bear is an integral part of Tai-Ahom community. Some esoteric rituals are still performed in secrecy when the womenfolk of the community prepare it. 'Abiding Brew', a 44-minute documentary, directed by Chandra Narayan Barua, delves into these secret rituals.

The Mizos believe that they belong to one of the lost tribes of Israel mentioned in the Old Testament. It is believed that one group of the tribe had entered China through Afghanistan and later travelling further east made Mizoram their home. Many Mizos are now returning to 'home' in Israel in search of their 'promised land'. Director Pradeep Gogoi's documentary 'Israel Ram Tana Dilna' is based on this Mizo exodus.

Director Deepak Bhattacharya's 19-minute documentary 'Unakoti - The Mask Icon' traces the history of a 30-feet high hooded deity of Shiva engraved on the rock in a hill, which is 180 km from Tripura's capital Agartala.

The northeast package was introduced in the MIFF only last year when 11 short movies were screened within a time span of five hours. This year, the festival devoted 12 hours for films from northeast.

The festival 2008 also has a seven-movie special package from Jammu & Kashmir. These two remote border regions have been given preference at the MIFF to expose their otherwise neglected cinematic talents in an international film festival.