Maharaj Kumar Priyabrata Singh's 8mm reels offer a window into Manipur's forgotten cultural history

Behind that camera was Maharaj Kumar Priyabrata Singh, regarded as one of the earliest Manipuri practitioners to independently use an 8mm camera extensively to document the state’s culture, people and way of life. His films were not necessarily made as commercial cinema. They were, in many ways, acts of observation—moving images of a society recording itself at a time when filmmaking was still beyond the reach of most people.