World Premiere
Set amidst the ethnic violence that erupted in 2023 in Manipur, Northeast India, Fireflies in the Dark explores survival, resilience, and the human cost of civil conflict. Three interwoven stories craft distinct but connected portraits of lives caught in the strife: a pregnant woman struggles to give birth as gunfire surrounds her; a young boy searches for his mother with only a displaced stray calf for companionship; and a cafe owner risks her safety to shelter those fleeing for their lives.
Yogesh Lohan has thoughtfully conceived and sensitively executes the film with restraint and empathy. Told through fragmented, non-linear storytelling and intimate handheld photography, the film refuses to aestheticize violence, turning its gaze instead towards the margins of catastrophe and asking what it means to keep going when lives are frozen by conflict. The film neither simplifies the complexities of the crisis nor reduces its characters to symbols of suffering.
Content Considerations: Bullying
Community Partner
Bala Hijam Ningthoujam, Leishangthem Tonthoingambi Devi, Angom Pamdamba Singh, Aheibam Chiranjit, Luwang Yumlembam, Ratan Lai
India
2026
In Manipuri with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits & Director
Executive Producer
Rajni Basumatary
Producer
Jani Viswanath
Screenwriter
Chingsanglakpa, Yogesh Lohan
Cinematography
Ravi B. Ranjan Sharma
Editor
Tinni Mitra
Original Music
Daniel B. George
Yogesh Lohan
Yogesh Lohan announced himself with his debut short Before I Leave You Again (2024), a quietly unsettling portrait of obsessive love that won Best Short Film and Best Director at the MENA Film Festival and travelled through several international festivals. What distinguished the film was Lohan’s instinct for restraint — observing his characters rather than explaining them, and letting image and silence carry what dialogue often cannot. Fireflies in the Dark (2026) marks a significant expansion of that vision. Moving from intimate drama to the fractured landscape of ethnic conflict in Manipur, Lohan brings the same commitment to character over spectacle.
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