Catholic priests honoured by Indian president at National Film Awards

(March 27, 2010) Two Salesians of Don Bosco recently made history when they received the national film awards from the President of India, Pratibha Devisingh Patil, becoming probably the first priests to do so in the 56 years of the award’s existence. They are Frs. Joseph Kizhakechennadu and Joseph Pulinthanath, producer and director respectively of "Yarwng" (Roots), their second feature film in Tripura’s Kokborok language. The Indian president honoured the two Salesian priests at the 56th National Film Awards held at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, on March 19. “Yarwng” was also Tripura’s first-ever national film award. Fr. Pulinthanath, dressed in white cassock, and Fr. Kizhakechennadu in his preferred saffron lungi and half-sleeved white kurta, were among 52 film award winners. The 95-minute film, "Yarwng", tells the story of large-scale displacement of tribal people that took place in the tiny northeastern state of Tripura when a hydroelectric project was set up there in the late 1970s. Fr. Pulinthanath’s earlier award winning film "Mathia" (Bangle) highlighted the plight of women labelled as witches.