Assamese feature film Aei Maatite was screened on the concluding day of the three-day Global Cinema Festival 2020, Sikkim on Sunday.

The cinema festival is an initiative of the Film Federation of India in association with Sikkim Films Co-operative Society Ltd, supported by the government of Sikkim.

Expressing delight on selection of the film for the festival, director of the movie, Sitanath Lahkar, said: “It is a great news for not only me, but for the entire Assamese film industry. It is even more heartening that the organisers selected a film which is completely based on a social problem of Assam.

With the screening of Aei Maatite at Global Cinema Festival, a larger section of people will be aware of the deadly menace called witch-hunting.”

This debut feature film of Lahkar talks about the witch-hunting problem in Assam and how a section of people uses witchcraft for their own interest. The film, an adaptation of Lahkar’s own play Tamasaa, contains a message against witch-hunting and is an attempt to uphold the value of scientific temperament and human life.

Recently, the Nalbari district administration tied up with ANGEEKAR Films to create awareness against the menace of witch-hunting by screening Aei Maatite in the rural areas.

Under this initiative, the film was screened at Bamunbari village of Tihu on Monday.

Made under the banner of ANGEEKAR Films, Aei Maatite is now travelling across Assam with special shows to create awareness against witch-hunting. It was released in 2017.