Boong, a Manipuri film, has officially become the first Indian film to win Best Children and Family Film at the 2026 BAFTA Awards. It is a historic moment for the Indian film fraternity, and even more so for Manipur—a state reeling under an unending armed conflict that has displaced over 60,000 people since May 2023.
The irony, however, is stark: only a few hundred or so have seen the film in Manipur so far, let alone the internally displaced children the director so poignantly mentioned in her BAFTA acceptance speech.
The world of children growing up in a conflict-ridden society is infinitely more complex than a simple "search for father journey" that Boong depicts. The film is cinematically well-crafted; the child actors are fresh and heartwarming, and the transgender character is portrayed with quiet power. But someone like me, who has spent nearly three years with children in relief camps and who lived through a troubled childhood myself, cannot help but wish we had the courage of Boong—the courage to travel hidden in a Bolero, cross into Myanmar, and not be lost forever.
I wish we had that kind of agency to fight against fate. But the truth is, we are more broken, more traumatised, and more fearful of the unknown. The truly brave children among us are now child soldiers, living in the deep interiors of the hills and along the porous borders of Myanmar and India. Many have been killed. Many have simply vanished and never returned.