Manipur Film 'Boong' Wins BAFTA: Here’s What the Director Said

Filmmaker Lakshmipriya Devi, who made her directorial debut with the film, drew attention to the longstanding ethnic conflict in Manipur while accepting the award.

The Wire Staff

Filmmaker Lakshmipriya Devi, who made her directorial debut with the film, drew attention to the longstanding ethnic conflict in Manipur while accepting the award.

manipur film boong wins bafta here’s what the director said

Filmmaker Lakshmipriya Devi at the 2026 BAFTA awards. Photo: Screenshot via X/@BAFTA

New Delhi: The sole Indian nomination at the 2026 British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) awards, Manipuri-language feature Boong, won in the Best Children and Family Film category on Sunday (February 22).

Filmmaker Lakshmipriya Devi, who made her directorial debut with the film, drew attention to the longstanding ethnic conflict in Manipur while accepting the award at London's Royal Festival Hall.

“[Boong] is rooted in a place which is very troubled, very much ignored and very unrepresented in India. We pray for peace to return to Manipur. We pray that all the internally displaced children including the child actors in the film regain their joy, innocence and dream once again. We pray that no conflict is ever formidable enough to destroy the one superpower that all of us have as human beings, which is forgiveness,” Devi said.

Lakshmipriya Devi accepts the #EEBAFTAs Children’s and Family Film award for Boong 💫 🗻 pic.twitter.com/TFBnBmDVSx
— BAFTA (@BAFTA) February 22, 2026

Boong premiered at the 2024 Toronto film festival and has since travelled to the Warsaw International Film Festival 2024, MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2024, the 55th International Film Festival of India, and the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne 2025.

The film follows the story of a young boy named Boong (Gugun Kipgen), who sets out to find his father as a surprise gift for his mother.

Despite receiving critical acclaim, the film saw a limited theatrical release in India in September 2025.

Ahead of the film’s release in India, Devi had said, “After the ongoing war in Manipur for more than two years and the general ignorance in mainland India about North East, I feel a painful urgency to educate or share with my countrymen about us, so that they can be more empathetic and we can feel more inclusive.”

The film was produced by Farhan Akhtar, Vikesh Bhutani, Alan McAlex, Ritesh Sidhwani and Shujaat Saudagar.

In May 2023, about two weeks after Boong’s filming concluded in Manipur, the state was ravaged by ethnic strife between the Meitei and Kuki communities. Nearly 260 people have died since then while over 60,000 have been displaced.

This article went live on February twenty-third, two thousand twenty six, at thirty minutes past one in the afternoon.

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