The EARTHDAY.ORG and All Living Things Environmental Film Festival 

Kokoly 

Synopsis: The film is a powerful and personal exploration of how one woman is navigating her daily life against a backdrop of poverty and marine biodiversity loss. Madame Kokoly’s character may be unique, but her story is not. It is the reality for hundreds of millions of small-scale fishers across coastal Africa, and the tropics. This film amplifies the voices of marginalized communities that bear the brunt of the effects of climate breakdown. 

Filmmakers – Blue Ventures, Garth Cripps, Paul Antion: Blue Ventures is a British marine conservation NGO, dedicated to rebuilding tropical fisheries with coastal communities. Garth Cripps is an independent photojournalist based in Madagascar. Since 2013, Paul has been in the small traditional fishing community of Andavadoaka in Madagascar, living alongside fishermen and women, working to empower them to lead on the management of their marine resources in a way that works for people and nature. 

Door/Home 

Synopsis: A poetic exploration of Dharwad, a city split between two narratives of identity: One that hails the city as the cultural capital and home to literary and musical greats of Karnataka, while the other that calls for a complete transformation of the city into an industrial, ‘smart’ city. This film revolves around the question of what nature means in a man-made world.  

Filmmaker – Varun Ram Kurtkoti: Varun Ram Kurtkoti is a writer, filmmaker and visual artist. Kurtkoti primarily works in the areas of individual memory in relation to the collective, the politics of identity, and oral cultures. Kurtkoti’s fascination is in experimenting with voice, language and music as the mediums of furthering knowledge, and recognizing their impact on the changing human relationships and identities. 

Log Drum of Pessao 

Synopsis: Log Drum of Pessao is poetry in motion.  It tracks the making of the ceremonial log drum from cutting and shaping the log, to carrying the log drum over many days to its final home in the Morung. The journey from forest to village is abound in rituals and traditional-style celebrations and is beautifully captured on screen by the Green Hub team. 

Filmmakers – Wanmai Konyak, Millo Tako, Chonglise Sangtam, Lamthanglian Vaiphei: Filmmakers Wanmai Konyak (of Changlangshu village in the Mon district of Nagaland), Millo Tako (an Apatani tribal from Ziro, Arunachal Pradesh), Chonglise Sangtam (of Nagaland), and Lamthanglian Vaiphei (of the Kuki tribe in Manipur) came together under the Green Hub Fellowship to make this stunning film. Individually, they work across the fields of wildlife & biodiversity conservation, agriculture, and community livelihoods.  

Rearing Giants 

Synopsis: Seventy percent of world agricultural land is already used for meat production. The knowledge on managing insects is often held by traditional forest dwellers and forest-dependent people. With insects increasingly being explored as an important source of protein to substitute red meat, this film explores the role of the Giant Hornet, being reared for consumption in the hills of Nagaland in Northeast India. 

Filmmakers – Thejaviko Chase, Dipen Rangmang: Thejaviko Chase is a freelance filmmaker and photographer, from  the Angumi tribe of Nagaland in NE India. Thejaviko has worked with the Kohima Institute and is a Green Hub fellow. Dipen Rangmang is from Cibi village in Lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh and is a Mshmi. Also a Green Hub fellow, Dipen wants to work with the youth in his hometown who struggle with alcohol addiction and substance abuse. What began as an interest in the visual elements of nature, has now grown into a full-fledged tool with which he intends to use for social change.  

Elephants In My Backyard 

Screening: The future of elephants in India is at stake due to growing conflict with human beings. With 500 people and 100 elephants dying each year, it has become one of the country’s most critical conservation challenges. In South India, where demands for the capture and removal of elephants are growing, an Indian conservationist tries to develop a radical new strategy to solve the problem—coexistence, using innovative technology and community participation. 

Filmmaker – Vikram Singh: Vikram Singh is an award-winning filmmaker and founder of the production company Elefant. His work has been featured in New York Times, The Washington Post, Al Jazeera, France24, Serendipity Arts Festival and Magnetic Fields Festival. His main areas of focus include conservation and environmental issues as well as the intersection of culture and politics. 

Rang Mahal (Palace of Colors) 

Synopsis: Until recent years, the Santhali tribe of India did not have their own written language. Their stories and myths were preserved and passed on verbally through the generations. Each narration has a different form, much like the rocks of a nearby hill that come in various hues. This documentary portrays the Santal people with tranquil composure and affectionate reverence. 

Filmmaker – Prantik Narayan Basu: Prantik Narayan Basu is a film director and screenplay writer from India. His short film Sakhisona won a Tiger Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2017 and his latest film Rang Mahal premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2019. 

Ever Slow Green: 

Synopsis: 50 years ago, a unique afforestation project took root on an eroded desert plateau in Tamil Nadu, South India, when people from diverse countries came together to establish the international experimental township of Auroville. Today, the lush forest is an outstanding example of eco-restoration that recreates and preserves a rare native forest type – Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest – on the verge of extinction. Ever Slow Green 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. 

Filmmakers – Christoph Poh 

Christoph Pohl grew up in Germany and moved to Auroville, South India, in 2008. He established brainfever media productions in 2011, and worked as Technical Director for the Auroville Film Festival 2011 – 2017 and 2022. Ever Slow Green, his first feature-length documentary film, reflects his passion for conserving Auroville’s forests. 

The Last Hop(e) 

Synopsis: India is a country where traditionally the common man has lived in harmony with the natural environment. But in the past few decades, modernization and unplanned urbanization has spread its roots and taken over the country. Whatever that remain of these forests is being managed by experts and biologists, with the general public caught up in the drills of modern, urban life. What is the fate of an animal that has been omnipresent in the fabric of Indian society- the frog? Is it the last hop for these frogs or will the common man reconnect with the natural world to usher in some lasting hope? 

Filmmakers – Dheeraj Aithal, Pradeep Hegde: Dheeraj Aithal and Pradeep Hegde are conservations and wildlife cinematographers and filmmakers. They have worked on projects across the country for production houses like Nat Geo Wild, Smithsonian Channel, Animal Planet, and the Discovery Channel. 

Lakshman-Rekha 

Synopsis: The film is an intimate, cinematic window into how Laxman Singh, a school dropout, galvanised a drought-hit village into a voluntary force that changed the destiny of 58 villages in the Great Indian Desert in India. Even today the water supply is erratic and he carries on with his mission of creating awareness about conserving each drop of water. But do people take him seriously or are they waiting for a miracle? 

Filmmakers – Nandan Saxena & Kavita Bahl: Nandan Saxena & Kavita Bahl are multiple award-winning filmmakers. Their films are poignant portraits of people living at the margins in contemporary India, often blurring the thin line between documentary and cinema. As media-trainers, they have offered more than 50 skill-sharing workshops in India, Australia, Singapore and London to help train and retool filmmakers under the banner – Quark Workshops. 

About All Living Things Environmental Film Festival (ALT EFF) 

All Living Things Environmental Film Festival (ALT EFF) provides a global platform for filmmakers to showcase their art to inspire and mobilize communities to create a sustainable future, locally and at large. With groundbreaking and compelling films, ALT EFF showcases the beauty of our planet and creates awareness on critical issues. Experts and Advisors to ALT EFF include acclaimed filmmaker Mike H Pandey, specializing in films about wildlife and the environment. Mr Pandey is the recipient of over 300 awards for his work to spread awareness about biodiversity and species conservation. Famous Bollywood actor Jackie Shroff is also one of ALT EFF’s stalwarts. 

Click here to view the films: https://bit.ly/YouTubeALTEFFED2022  

The films will be available from April 22, 2022.