Aurovillian Christoph Pohl’s documentary EverSlowGreen, which tells the story of Auroville’s unique afforestation project that took root on an eroded desert plateau in Villupuram district, has been officially selected for screening at the prestigious ChangeNow summit in Paris.
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It will be screened along with four specially selected films, including David Attenborough’s BreakingBoundaries : TheScienceofOurPlanet at the ChangeNow film festival in the summit from May 27 to 29.
Mr. Pohl, whose documentary has already earned accolades and awards across the world, is happy with the development.
“I am excited and proud that my film will be screening alongside Sir David Attenborough’s new documentary, Breaking Boundaries . I came to Auroville in 2008 and was amazed to learn this landscape was completely barren and eroded in 1968 when Auroville started. I couldn’t believe that all the forests had been created from scratch and had grown in less than 40 years. The documentary tells the story of Auroville’s 50-years-young forest through some of the diverse characters who have dedicated their lives to bringing it to fruition” he said.
Mr. Pohl who studied media technology engineering in Hamburg in Germany had been dreaming of making a feature-length film for many years.
In 2017, his passion for filmmaking and forestry came together and he started working on the concept for the documentary on Auroville’s unique afforestation work.
The project was supported by Auroville and funded by the 50th Anniversary celebrations in 2018.
Mr. Pohl is now a co-steward of one of Auroville’s 44 forest communities.
Mr. Pohl said that he teamed up with his colleague from his previous projects G.P. Aravindan, a Puducherry-based cinematographer and they worked over the next two years to capture the story of the forests of Auroville.
The documentary premiered at the Auroville Film Festival 2020 and has been screened in 16 international film festivals, bagging four awards.
The documentary is available on prominent online streaming platforms like iTunes/Apple TV, Google Play and Cinemapreneur (a new platform for independent Indian films).
The ChangeNow summit is based in Paris and its aim is to highlight the durable and concrete solutions developed by innovators and investors of change.
