India’s first international indigenous film festival will take place in February next year in Odisha.
An initiative of activist film collective Video Republic, that has been campaigning for indigenous communities in the State, the three-stop event will kick off in Bhubaneswar on February 19 and 20, moving on to Puri from February 21 to 23 to eventually culminate in an interaction with the adivasi communities at Niyamgiri.
It will showcase films made by indigenous people or made by non-indigenous filmmakers in collaboration with the indigenous communities.
The festival aims to be a platform for indigenous communities from the world over to share, have a dialogue, collaborate and to use cinema as a mode of united assertion, resistance and activism against exploitative forces.
“Odisha is known for its large indigenous population, diverse indigenous culture and widespread indigenous resistance against mining companies and other destructive practices,” said activist-filmmaker Surya Shankar of Video Republic.
They have been organising “Unexpurgated” a festival of independent, alternative cinema in Bhubaneshwar since 2016 and the thought of looking exclusively at indigenous cinema had long been brewing in their minds. The idea got a boost when Mr. Shankar attended the first Indigenous Film Festival in Bali in January this year. It was organised by Ranu Welum, an organisation founded by young Dayak filmmaker Emmanuela Shinta and Wellington-born professional photographer David Metcalf.
Mr. Shankar was accompanied by Dinja Jakasika, leader of Niyamgiri’s Dongria Kondh community. “It made me realise that there was a great scope of bringing together indigenous filmmakers, artistes, activists, leaders and organisations for a dialogue in a dignified manner,” says Mr. Shankar. He then went on to attend the Kalimantan Indigenous Film Festival in August 2018. These visits also helped him network with and find support in members of international indigenous communities like the Maoris, Dayaks and Minahasas.
“We are keen that there is adequate representation of the indigenous people of Southeast Asia with whom the indigenous communities of Odisha have had historic ties and today face common enemies in the form of predatory Indian corporations like Adani, Tata, Reliance, Vedanta, etc. who are devastating indigenous life and land from the forests of Niyamgiri to Kalimantan [Indonesian part of Borneo] for minerals and plantations,” says Mr. Shankar.
Video Republic's forthcoming festival already has confirmed participation from the likes Ms. Shinta and activist-filmmakers Wensislaus Fatubun from West Papua and Eriberto Gualinga from Sarayaku in Ecuador. Mr. Fatubun has been focusing on destruction of rainforests and spread of oil plantations and their effects on West Papua tribes, traditions and environment. Mr. Gualinga has been involved in his tribe’s resistance over state plans to increase oil production in the Amazon forest. The Sarayaku people say their way of life will be lost if indiscriminate drilling is allowed on their land.
“Indigenous communities across the world are on the threshhold. They will either survive or get wiped out,” says Mr. Shankar, adding, “The issues and struggles are not just parallel but the same everywhere highlighting the need for solidarity, to get united... The future of mankind rests solely on the wisdom and knowledge of the indigenous people.”
Published - November 30, 2018 10:13 pm IST
