Gogun Kipgen, the 13-year-old lead actor in the Manipuri language film Boong, which won Best Children and Family Film at the 2026 BAFTA Awards, has been keeping a low profile. Friends and relatives in Manipur said that the boy, Kuki, who plays the role of Pong, a Mehti, in the film, is busy preparing for a language test for his sixth grade final exams in New Delhi.
The film about a boy’s search for his father, which was shot in Manipur, was completed a few weeks before May 3, 2023, the day ethnic clashes between Kuki Zos and Metis began in the state that led to the deaths of 260 people and the displacement of more than 50,000. Kipgen and his family, who were residents of Imphal at the time, were among the displaced. People who know the family said they had been living in Delhi since January last year for Kipgen’s education.
On May 4, 2023, at the height of the clashes, Kipgen and his family were rescued from a mob targeting the Kanan Phenj area in Imphal, where the Kuki Zhu families lived, one of these people said. The family of Lakshmipriya Devi, Pong’s manager, saved Kipgen and his mother from an angry mob by informing security forces, one of these people said. Lakshmipriya is mitti.
It is certain that such attacks occurred on both sides. And a handful of similar stories about courage and people standing by each other during this wave of violence.
The persistence of ethnic division has kept the two groups in their strongholds and created buffer zones between the Meitei-dominated Imphal valley and the hill areas, where the Kuki Zos form a majority.
Lakshmipriya highlighted this ongoing displacement in her acceptance speech at the BAFTA Awards. “I just want to take this opportunity to say that we are praying for peace to return to Manipur, and we are praying that all the internally displaced children, including the children starring in the film, will regain their joy, innocence and dream again. We pray that there will not be a conflict huge enough to destroy the one superpower that we all have as human beings, which is tolerance,” she said after starting her speech with khurumjari (greetings to all in Manipur language).
In 2023, the Kipgin family moved to the mountainous Kangbukpi region, where the Kuki-Zu people are a majority, after leaving Imphal.
“Along with other Kuki-zo families, they boarded a bus that was part of a security convoy after spending the first few nights at the Assam Rifles camp. From what we know, they lived with a relative in Kangpokpi district before they decided to move to Delhi to teach Gogun. They cannot return to their home in Imphal until peace returns to Manipur,” the person mentioned earlier said.
“Gogun’s school has been disrupted because he studied in a private school in Imphal and cannot return there anytime soon. To ensure that his academic life is not disrupted, he has not traveled anywhere to collect awards,” this person said.
The film won awards at three international festivals: South Asian International Film Festival, 2024, Canada in the Excellence in Feature Filmmaking category; 17th Asia Pacific Screen Awards 2024, Australia, in the Best Youth Film category; Indian Film Festival Melbourne 2025 in the category Best Actor (Male) – Special Mention. Kipgen had traveled to Melbourne to receive the Best Actor award.
The BAFTA award brought widespread acclaim to the filmmakers and actors.
“Congratulations to everyone associated with this film. This is truly a moment of tremendous joy, especially for Manipur. It also highlights the immense creative talent of our nation,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on X (formerly Twitter).
Younam Khemchand Singh, who took the oath of office in Manipur, also congratulated those associated with the film and termed it a tremendous joy for everyone, especially Manipur.
