Rewben Mashangva is a Tangkhul Naga tribal musician and researcher from Ukhrul, Manipur, India. His quest and journey remains the most important one in the sphere of preservation of traditional folk music of the Tangkhul Nagas which stretches back more than a thousand years. With the explosive infusion of western music, coupled with a social order transformed radically via Christianity, Rewben struggles relentlessly against the turning tides to embrace an oral musical tradition which is on the verge of extinction. Oinam, a former student of mine in Shillong, filmed Rewben’s quest and journey for more than a year to give us this important and culturally vital document – a document that is reflective, respectful and reverberant. Take a look.
Wonderful cinematography! Sad to learn about how debilitating the intro of christianity was to this culture! Submit this doc to the Margaret Mead Film Festival 2013 in NY!