Important questions asked on climate change at All Living Things Environmental Film Festival in Bengaluru

The opening weekend of the All Living Things Environmental Film Festival (ALT EFF) in Bengaluru was all about urgent conversations regarding the environment, and where those conversations unfolded through the language of cinema.

Visitors often get glimpses of sewage systems and landfills, solar parks and wetlands, fungi and forests, folk theater and immersive experiences all in the same afternoon. For the festival’s director and co-founder, Kunal Khanna, an economist turned systems thinker and permaculturist, the goal was clear: to bring together a series of films that would provide people with a way to take action.

A panel discussion in action Photo Courtesy: Dev Manohar Manoj

Human stories, the heart of climate cinema

In the various rooms of the Bangalore International Center (BIC) where the festival was held, the importance of the environment never went away; It appeared in villages, cities, factories and forests. from stories like kentaro (Tilman Stewart, Gaku Matsuda) and future council (Damon Gameau) is inspiring us to see “the future” through children’s eyes marching in the dark (Kinshuk Surjan) follows farmer suicides and women living with the consequences of institutional neglect Dooars World (Shawn Pritam Baral) Stepping into a delicate corridor where wildlife and people co-exist, the festival highlighted its core principles of change.

According to the team behind ALT EFF, the features they displayed were not just about the environment, but also about understanding the human relationship with it.

“Big filmmakers are getting behind environmental narratives, and these stories are so strong that the sub-genre is about the environment, and the main narrative is the human spirit,” says festival co-founder and producer Laura Christe Khanna.

The message strikes a delicate balance between ecological urgency and emotional urgency, something that is deliberate and not accidental. Even on stage performances like Beware of the plastic monsterYakshagana, about a demon who symbolizes our plastic problem, furthers ideas of change, while deepening experiences of art such as veteranTaking audiences deep into the ancient forests of Australia.

Festival Director and Co-Founder, Kunal Khanna. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Home environment on the big screen

Although the festival covers experiences from around the world, its focus never strays from home for too long. documentaries like down the draina clockwork journey through the city’s sewage system, and ruin and cityRevamping Mavallipura after years of protests and dumping, the focus was on Bengaluru’s roads, pipes and landfills.

Nitya Mishra (down the drain) and Karishma Rao with Vishvesh Bhagirathi Shivaprasad (ruin and city) Credit ALT EFF as a platform for bringing accountability as well as positive justice to audiences.

In the same spirit, Below the panel: Hidden pitfalls of India’s solar parksThe film, directed by Aparna Ganesan, also asked serious questions about what happens to displaced people in the name of clean energy and gave the audience a lot to think about.

deep experience title veteran
Photo Courtesy: Dev Manohar Manoj

Talking about the future, Kunal is optimistic that festivals like ALT EFF with its decentralized nature, events organized in multiple cities and the growing network of watch parties, will go a long way in sensitizing people to the burning issues surrounding the planet.