Manipur Film Critic Meghachandra Kongbam Invited to Speak at International Roundtable in IFFI Goa 2025
Renowned Manipuri film critic and film activist Meghachandra Kongbam has been invited by the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, to participate in an international roundtable discussion at the forthcoming International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Goa, beginning on November 20, 2025.
The roundtable discussion, titled “Beyond the Thumb – The Role of a Film Critic: A Gatekeeper, an Influencer, or Something Else?”, is scheduled for November 26, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Kala Academy, Goa, according to the official IFFI website.
The session will be moderated by Davide Abbatescianni, a Rome-based journalist and international reporter for Cineuropa, the EU-funded portal covering European cinema.
Distinguished film critics and journalists from across the world will join the discussion, including Barbara Lorey de Lacharrière (France), Deepa Gahlot (India), Elizabeth Kerr (Hong Kong), and Baradwaj Rangan (India).
Barbara Lorey de Lacharrière is a noted French cultural journalist associated with major European publications such as Die Welt and Neue Zürcher Zeitung, and has served as Artistic Director for international festivals like Visions du Réel and Fribourg Film Festival.
Deepa Gahlot, a National Award-winning critic, author, and columnist, writes extensively on cinema, theatre, and women’s issues for leading publications and her website, deepagahlot.com.
Elizabeth Kerr, a Canadian writer based in Hong Kong, contributes to Screen International, The Hollywood Reporter, and South China Morning Post, covering major international film festivals.
Baradwaj Rangan, an acclaimed Indian critic and author, is a recipient of the Best Film Critic Award at the 53rd National Film Awards (2006) and former editor of Film Companion South.
Representing Manipur, Meghachandra Kongbam brings over four decades of experience in film criticism. A postgraduate in Journalism from Banaras Hindu University (1979) and an alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune (1985), he has written extensively on Indian cinema for national and regional publications. He is an Executive Member of FIPRESCI-India (International Federation of Film Critics) and serves as President of the Film Society of Manipur.
He is also a recipient of the Golden Lotus Award for Best Film Critic at the 63rd National Film Awards (2015), Kongbam is also the author of Manipuri Cinema (2021), a comprehensive study of the region’s cinematic history. A retired Director of Information and Public Relations, Government of Manipur, he continues to promote Manipuri cinema and critical discourse at both national and international levels.
According to the IFFI festival authorities, the session aims “to define the modern function of a film critic in an age of instant reviews and user-generated content,” exploring whether critics today serve as gatekeepers of quality, influencers of opinion, or hold a deeper cultural role in shaping meaningful audience engagement.
(Source: IFFI Goa Masterclasses– 56th Edition)