Since the dawn of time, storytelling in community has shaped our mindset, our outlook and ultimately, our behavior. With record heat, oscillating droughts & floods, fires, melting glaciers (and ... you know the rest) our current narrative needs some course correcting.
All Living Things Environmental Film Festival (ALT EFF) is back for a 5th edition, pan-India cultural event. Join us at Courtyard Koota for a unique evening of cinema, art & community. Watch award-winning global films on regeneration, activism, resilience and hope and engage in conversations with India’s most inspiring change-makers. Let’s restore the narrative of stewardship, together. All are welcome!
PROGRAM:
27th November, Wednesday
6:30 - 6:45 PM : Some Thoughts on the Common Toad
6:45 - 7:45 PM : A Flaming Forest
7:45 - 8:30 PM: Q & A with A Flaming Forest and Discussion
29th November, Friday
6:30 - 7:00 PM : Tomorrow, the Burning Heavens
7:00 - 8:00 PM : Miles Away
8:00 - 8:45 PM : ALT EFF Voices (With prompts and select curation provided by us, this is an open-mic for audiences to)
PROGRAM DETAILS:
Some Thoughts on the Common Toad (G. Anthony Svatek | USA | 10 mins 37 secs | English | 2023)
A cine-collage manifesto inspired by George Orwell’s essay, with Tilda Swinton narrating. The film uses a blend of images and sound to highlight the common toad as a symbol of natural beauty amidst environmental and political decay. It contrasts the elegance of nature with contemporary issues, urging viewers to reconsider their relationship with the environment and appreciate its beauty and significance.
A Flaming Forest (Salman Javeed, Satya Ambasta, Vivek Sangwan | India | 48 mins 27 secs | Kannada, English | 2024)
Exclusionary conservation practices in the Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple (BRT) Tiger Reserve have displaced Soliga adivasis from the forests they have historically inhabited. The film documents their intimate relationship with the forest, displacement induced loss and resistance against such policies, calling for an alternative vision to conservation.
Tomorrow, the Burning Heavens (Max Bloching | Germany | 22 mins 06 secs | German | 2024)
This short film explores the 1560s` ‘Little Ice Age’ and its apocalyptic fears, illustrated in hand-coloured woodblock prints. The film juxtaposes these historical anxieties with modern-day artificial winter landscapes in the Alps, created for skiing resorts. By merging past and present, it examines how image-making, technology, and faith interact amidst environmental crises, reflecting on our evolving perceptions of nature and climate change.
Miles Away (Megha Acharya | India | 50 mins | Bundeli, Hindi | 2023)
The film follows the journey of three women who work at a brick kiln on the outskirts of a city in North India, in the midst of extreme rains and a global pandemic. What unfolds is a story of mobility, debt and the everyday lives of the caste-oppressed women, whose labour is both crucial and too often invisible, in the story of a rapidly urbanising global India.