Sheram Chingkhei

What started as a random filming thing, during a music tour, slowly turned into the only way for me to deal with my post-performance blues. This film is a letter I wrote to myself. From Imphal.

'Eigi Sylhet' is a journey of my self-discovery. With no narrative, this two-minute diary film paints a portrait of my resilience and artistic awakening, weaving together my self-portraits and cityscapes captured in 2018, a year I spent in oblivion, solitude and contemplation. It's a letter I wrote to my future self.

One fine morning it stopped working and I realized my little compact camera was dying. So I started taking as many photos as possible with it before it dies. These photos were taken in 2018 and 2019. A time I spent in oblivion. It was dark. It was blurry. This silent film is my tribute to my beloved camera.

Mama used to sing and dance. Pabung is a poet. I saw mama crying only once in my life, when she lost her ema. Pabung lost his ema when he was young, and he has kept her alive in his vivid memories and poems ever since. I keep having nightmares about losing mama and pabung. Mama wants me to be a singer after I disappointed her by not becoming a doctor. She also wants me to record her singing, which I keep forgetting. Seeing me down and depressed, wandering aimlessly and successlessly, pabung bought me a camera when I left my day job and said I wanted to be a filmmaker. I haven’t made anything noteworthy yet. However, I did some random lens tests by filming them with that camera.