Filmmaker Kivini Shohe’s Documentary Under the Longfuru Sky Screened at Indigenous Cinema at New York University
KOHIMA, 13: Filmmaker Kivini Shohe participated in Indigenous Cinema: South Asian Perspectives, a three-day international programme held from December 8 to 10, 2025 at New York University Abu Dhabi. The event brought together filmmakers, scholars and artists to explore the cinematic traditions of South Asia and was organised by the Rights and Representation Research Forum in collaboration with the NYU Abu Dhabi Film and New Media Programme and the Indigenous Film and Media Alliance South Asia.
The programme featured a curated selection of films from Northeast India, showcasing a wide range of short films, documentaries and feature films. The screenings were complemented by panel discussions focusing on themes of identity, land, memory, resistance and the evolving politics of Indigenous representation.
As part of the programme, Kivini Shohe delivered an artist talk and screened her documentary Under the Longfuru Sky. The film presents an intimate and honest portrayal of a remote community navigating the tensions between ancestral traditions and modernity. During her talk, Shohe reflected on her personal journey as a filmmaker, the challenges of shooting in Nagaland and her commitment to observational filmmaking. She emphasised that for communities like hers, cinema remains one of the few effective means to archive knowledge, cultural memory and traditions that are rapidly disappearing.
Commenting on Shohe’s work, Rashmi Sawhney, Associate Programme Head and Associate Arts Professor of Film and New Media at NYU Abu Dhabi, said that Shohe’s films offer a rich perspective on the culture of Nagaland and the Naga people, revealing the state’s immense diversity while highlighting important contemporary issues. She also stressed the importance of fostering cross-regional dialogue among Indigenous communities across India and Southeast Asia, adding that Shohe’s films and her broader cultural work make a significant contribution towards this objective. (DIPR)
