Indigenous voices amplified in 'Landing Together' film series
CEESP News -- Dr. Purabi Bose, Filmmaker, Deputy Chair of CEESP Theme on Governance, Equity and Rights
It is rare thatÌýthe voices of the voiceless get anyÌýrecognition. Landing Together's new four short indie documentary films captureÌýthe stories ofÌýreal life protagonists – tribal, Indigenous Peoples and pastoralist communities – storiesÌýabout their forests and traditional land.
Each film ofÌýabout 20 minutesÌýcovers issues related toÌýoil palm plantation, mining, gender, and community forest management. The uniqueness of the films liesÌýin diversity - linguistic, ethnicity, landscapes and culture - of India's someÌý104 million tribal population.
Photo: Purabi Bose
Photo: Purabi Bose
ÌýFilmsÌýcompleted a collection of four short independent documentary films and one feature length documentary film in July of 2018Ìýthat focusesÌýon the issues of land and forest rights of Indigenous Peoples in India.Ìý
What makes these films unique is the way the stories are given a voice by the real life protagonists. The films are the first of theirÌýkind in the country because they areÌýmultilingual and coverÌýthe entire 'tribal-belt' of mainland and Northeast India.
The tribal belt of India - from Gujarat to Odisha and the entire Northeast India - is rich in mineral resources and diverse landscapes such as grasslands in semi-arid western India to tropical biodiversity rich northeast forest in theÌýmountains. Diversity is also found in the spoken 12 languages, mix of ethnicities and religous groups, Ìýbut one aspect that connects India's ~ 400 diverse adivasis and pastoralists communities is their 'way of living' with nature. The Landing Together films is first of its kind to document real life protagonists in their own languages from diverse landscapes.Ìý
Each of the four short documentary films highlight issues related to extractiveÌýresource practicesÌý(such asÌýbauxite and coal mining), plantations that replace traditional indigenous techniques of farming due to demand for palm oil, gender disparity in land tenure and forest rights, and howÌýcollective forest governance is preferred byÌýtribal communities.ÌýÌý
For the director and producer, Purabi Bose, the Landing Together films is like 'pass the story' giving voices to the voiceless from all over tribal India.ÌýÌý
Please find further details about the process and filmmaking approach at the websiteÌý
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You are welcome to watch the four trailers via Vimeo
Ìýmultilingual film about indigenous women and their land and forest rights across 10 tribal districts of India. Link:Ìý
Ìýabout palm oil and shifting cultivation in Mizoram Link:Ìý
Ìýis about extractive resource industries mining for coal and bauxite in traditional indigenous territories of Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh states of Central India. Link:Ìý
s aboutÌýlegal claim forÌýtribal community forest rights covers all over tribal India.ÌýLink:Ìý
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