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 Museo Camera, Gurgaon 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:

23rd November, Saturday

4:00 - 4:10 : Introduction

4:10 - 5:00 PM : Miles Away (Megha Acharya | India | 50 mins | Bundeli, Hindi | 2023)

5:00 - 5:45 PM : Panel discussion by PurposeShaping cities, shaping stories: role of art & media in storytelling by Purpose

5:45 - 6:10 PM : Tomorrow, the Burning Heavens (Max Bloching | Germany | 22 mins 06 secs | German | 2024) INDIA PREMIERE

6:10 - 6:45 PM : Stubble - The Farmer`s Bane (Shaz Syed | India | 35 mins | English, Punjabi, Hindi | 2024) INDIA PREMIERE

6:45 - 7:00 PM : Sharing circle/Discussion

24th November, Sunday

4:00 - 4:20 PM : A River in Trouble: The Fragile Gori Basin (Neha Dixit, Roundglass Sustain | India | 16 mins 36 secs | English | 2024)

4:20 - 4:45 PM : Submerged (Iqbal Hussain | India | 24 mins 27 secs | Nimadi, Hindi | 2023)

4:45 - 5:15 PM : Q&A with both the filmmakers

5:15 - 5:30 PM : ABBA (Fabiana Lupo | Italy | 14 mins 29 secs | Italian | 2023) INDIA PREMIERE

5:30 - 5:45 PM : Wild Summon (Karni and Saul | UK | 14 mins 39 secs | English | 2023) INDIA PREMIERE

5:45 - 6:50 PM : Foragers (Jumana Manna | Palestine | 1 hr 03 mins | Arabic, Hebrew | 2022) INDIA PREMIERE

6:50 - 7:15 PM : Sharing circle/Discussion

30th November, Saturday

4:00 - 4:10 PM : Introduction

4:10 - 4:30 PM : Ullarivu (The Awakening) (Sumi Mathai | India | 14 mins 10 secs | Malayalam | 2023) 

4:30 - 5:00 PM : Lady of the Gobi (Khoroldorj Choijoovanchig | France, Mongolia | 25 mins 12 secs | Mongolian | 2022) INDIA PREMIERE

5:00 - 5:45 PM : A talk on Gender and Just Transition followed by an interaction with a member of the Domestic Workers Union by Asar

5:45 - 7:10 PM : No Winter Holidays (Rajan Kathet, Sunir Pandey | Nepal, South Korea, Romania | 1 hr 19 mins | Nepali | 2023)

1st December, Sunday

4:00 - 4:10 PM : Introduction - ALT EFF x Australian Embassy

4:10 - 4:30 PM : Burnt Country (Kirsten Slemint | Australia | 17 mins 45 secs | English | 2024) INDIA PREMIERE

4:30 - 5:30 PM : A Flaming Forest (Salman Javeed, Satya Ambasta, Vivek Sangwan | India | 48 mins 27 secs | Kannada, English | 2024) INDIA PREMIERE

5:30 - 6:30 PM : Very special panel discussion on Indigenous care of country. Featuring Burnt Country protagonist & Aboriginal fire keeper James Shaw, visiting from Australia, joined by A Flaming Forest protagonists & Soliga Adivasis visiting from Karnataka.

This is an unforgettable opportunity to directly access cross-cultural Indigenous knowledge. Not to be missed!



7th December, Saturday

4:00 - 4:10 PM : Introduction

4:10 - 4:30 PM : Last Days of Summer (Stenzin Tankong | India, France | 14 mins 57 secs | Boti (Ladakhi) | 2023)

4:30 - 5:15 PM : WHOSE FOREST IS IT ANYWAY?

The interaction of forest histories and climate futures by Kanchi Kohli

5:15 - 6:45 : Once Upon a Time in a Forest (Virpi Suutari | Finland | 1 hr 33 mins | Finnish, English | 2024) INDIA PREMIERE

8th December, Sunday

4:00 - 4:20 PM : Requiem for a Whale (Ido Weisman | Israel | 15 mins 27 secs | Hebrew | 2022) INDIA PREMIERE

4:20 - 4:45 PM : Further and Further Away (Polen LY | Cambodia | 23 mins 39 secs | Bunong, Khmer | 2022)

4:45 - 6:30 PM : My Mercury (Joëlle Chesselet, Pippa Erhlich | UK, USA | 1 hr 37 mins | English | 2023) 

6:30 - 7:00 PM : ALT EFF Voices: Using the above films as prompts for discussion, this is an open-mic for audiences share how these issues are relevant to their lives; this can be an anecdote, a rant, a stream of thoughts, poetry

NON-FILM PROGRAM DETAILS:

ALT EFF Voices:

ALT EFF Voices is a dynamic spoken-word platform that will be a key feature of our annual festival, providing a space for individuals to share their personal stories, thoughts, and observations on the pressing environmental challenges we face today. With ALT EFF Voices' inaugural edition during ALT EFF 2024, we hope people of all ages and backgrounds will feel free to channel their grief, anger, hope, and passion into powerful yet creative messages about our environment.

A talk on Gender and Just Transition followed by an interaction with a member of the Domestic Workers Union  - Ms Neha Saigal, Director, Gender and Climate Change Programme, Asar, Ms. Ankita Bhatkhande, Head of Communications, Gender and Climate Change Programme, Asar

Ms. Neha Saigal, Director of the Gender and Climate Programme at Asar will give an overview on the discourse of just transition and why it is important to think about the issue from a gender just lens. This will be followed by an interaction with a member of the Domestic Workers Union in Delhi to understand the experiences of women living on the margins around the discourse to reimagine it in a bottom-up manner.

Speaker’s Bio: 

Neha Saigal 

Director, Gender and Climate Change, Asar 

Neha is the Director-Gender and Climate change at Asar Social Impact Advisors based in Bangalore. Her work is focused on climate justice through an intersectional feminism approach. Neha has experience of working across international NGOs, philanthropy and development consulting organisations on issues of environment and social justice focusing on women from diverse communities and identities. Neha has a degree in environmental science and is pursuing her second Masters in political ecology, degrowth and environmental justice from UAB-Barcelona and she is also trained in leadership and community organising with Dr Marshall Ganz at the Harvard Kennedy School.

Ankita Bhatkhande

Head of Communications, Gender and Climate Change, Asar

Ankita Bhatkhande is a strategic communications specialist and a former journalist based in Mumbai, India. She has completed her Masters in Media and Cultural Studies from Tata Institute of Social Sciences India and has worked as a journalist across prominent English language dailies in the country for nearly a decade. She pivoted to Climate a few years ago and is currently working as the Head of Communications for a Gender and Climate Programme, at Asar, an organisation that works on climate change in India. In her current role, she anchors communications interventions for the programme across 5 states. Her work focuses on democratising climate narratives in India and building capacities of local communities on communicating climate change.

Kanchi Kohli Bio: Kanchi Kohli is a researcher, educator and communicator of environmental law and policy. Her work areas cover the fields of environment, forest and biodiversity regulation and governance in India. Her policy research and practice explores the links and gaps between law, development, sustainability and environmental justice.

Kanchi has authored several reports, research papers and popular articles as part of her work. Her twitter platform #lawforall publicised significant aspects of Indian environmental law for a year and was regarded as an innovative form of environmental law pedagogy.

Kanchi is an Associate Editor of the quarterly magazine Current Conservation. Kanchi teaches environment law and development courses at government training institutes and universities.,

She was selected to the International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP) of the US government in 2012. She was also was awarded the Fulbright Fellowship in 2013 and was affiliated to the Boalt Law School, University of Berkeley, California.

Shaping cities, shaping stories: role of art & media in storytelling: This panel will explore the role of art and media in addressing diverse issues such as climate justice, particularly in the context of brick kilns and the people who shape our cities. We will focus on the power of platforms, messengers, and messages, highlighting the types of stories we need to tell and, crucially, who is telling them. Through this discussion, we aim to emphasise the importance of involving diverse audiences in climate justice dialogues and ensuring that voices from the margins are heard in these critical conversations.

Speakers: 

Niroj Satpathy: Niroj Satpathy is a creative practitioner who works across various mediums and scales. His work is primarily inspired by his experiences at landfills and waste management sites in Delhi. He focuses on the processes he engages in rather than the objects he creates. Niroj uses unconventional source materials,

along with drawings, paintings, videos, photographic materials, and installations, to explore political and ecological issues. Much of his work is installation-based and plays with different emotions. He invites viewers into a sensory experience that encourages reflection and action. Niroj’s works reflect his investigation into how the city manages its waste and how what we consider ‘waste’ can have multiple meanings and lives that are yet to be fully explored. ‘Waste’ can have multiple meanings and lives that are yet to be fully explored.

Suneeta Prajapati 

Suneeta Prajapati, 27, is one of the most experienced reporters on the Khabar Lahariya team, with 10 years of journalistic exposure in both print and digital media. Over the years, Suneeta has taken on the nexus between politicians, media and mining contractors, exposing the conditions of work in the mines. Currently working as the Operations Manager at Chambal Academy, the hybrid education vertical at Chambal Media, Suneeta has taken on the responsibility of imparting her wealth of knowledge and experience to the next generation. Through her role, she engages in teaching young girls the nuances of on-field reporting, sharing the practical insights gained during her years as a journalist.

UDAAN Fellow:

Udaan Fellow 

Anju 

My name is Anju, and I am 20 years old, originally from Mohanpurwa village in Banda district. Due to difficult family circumstances, my family migrated to work at a brick kiln, where I also work alongside them. My studies were interrupted, but I have always had a strong passion for learning, which motivated me to complete my 12th grade while working at the kiln. When I learned about Chambal Academy’s free rural mobile journalism course for girls working at brick kilns, I took the opportunity and completed the fellowship while staying at the kiln. I find joy in standing on my own feet and building a future for myself.

Rachna 

My name is Rachna Devi, and I am 19 years old. I have completed my 12th grade. I come from a family of seven, and I am the eldest daughter. Growing up in a financially struggling household, we often had to leave our homes behind in search of work and sustenance. To support my family, I also work at a brick kiln. Currently, I am a student of the Udaan Fellowship.

Esha Roy 

Esha Roy is an independent journalist working on issues related to climate change. She has been a journalist for two decades and has covered conflict, gender issues, the environment, and other social development issues including those related to minority communities. She has also worked as a conflict reporter covering insurgency in North East India as well as served as the Kolkata bureau chief, both for The Indian Express.

Moderator:

Gurpriya Singh 

Gurpriya Singh is an Associate Campaign Director at Purpose. She believes in the power of people's participation and storytelling to bring invisible and complex issues to the forefront. She specialises in audience-centric insight and strategies to deliver compelling campaigns that move audiences to act and participate. 

She has worked in India on building youth leadership on sexual and reproductive health and rights, women’s dignity in access to healthcare, and worker rights. She is currently working on a multi-country program to build women’s leadership in law through a coalition and campaign. 

Gurpriya comes with over 10+ years of experience in storytelling, communications and campaigns. Prior to joining Purpose, Gurpriya worked at Dasra where Gurpriya managed multi-state partnerships, mobilisation, capacity building, community advocacy and on-ground activations. Gurpriya has also worked at Digital Empowerment Foundation and contributed stories to the 1947 Partition Archive.