Sanjiv Shah is a film editor, producer, and filmmaker engaged largely with documentaries dealing with social issues, and exploring forms of film. As a part of the exhibition The State of Housing (2018) in Mumbai, he directed a video looking at the housing crisis in India over the last 70 years.
Bina Paul
Bina Paul works mainly in Malayalam-language films. She has over fifty editing credits and has directed four documentaries. Her first editing work was in 1985 on Aravindan’s documentary The Seer Who Walks Alone and her first feature film work was on Abraham’s Amma Ariyan in 1986. Paul won her first National Film Award for Revathi’s Mitr, My Friend, which had an all-woman crew.
Avijit Mukul Kishore
Avijit Mukul Kishore is a filmmaker and cinematographer, working in documentary and interdisciplinary moving image practices. He’s involved in cinema pedagogy as a lecturer and curates film programmes for prominent national cultural institutions.
Rajula Shah
Rajula is a Poet, Filmmaker & Visual Artist. Her practice emerges through close collaboration with people, their histories & environments exploring boundaries of fiction/non-fiction through New Media. Developing new strategies for the study & practice of Cinema in changing contexts is a concern with her.
Deepa Dhanraj
Deepa’s documentaries and writing that span a period of forty years, engage with questions related to women’s status, political participation and resistance. Her films have been screened and awarded at national and international film festivals, and she has also served on the Jury at National and International film festivals.
Film by Priya Naresh. Palak Patel & Aniket Kolarkar Mentor Sanjiv Shah
Jury Citation:
“अख्खा दिन, अख्खी रात (All Day and all of the Night) is extraordinary in its representation of the monstrous injustice of rehousing people next to a toxic landfill. There has been a masterful use of film as a medium to slip in subtle juxtapositions of politics, of relocated marginalised communities and gender inequality against the backdrop of a growing mountain of garbage. The hopeful, self-told story of the young protagonist is rendered all the more poignant because of the state of injustice that she matter-of-factly accepts.
The film is deeply moving with its evocative visuals of the growing dump of waste while life continues to exist on its edge, reinforcing the gravity of the problem while pulling the viewer in. The film captures compelling scenes of a community’s struggle for procuring clean drinking water as rainwater, running through the landfill, drowns their low-lying houses. The music score is well-woven with the raw imagery to reveal a quietly searing yet poetic cinematic language.”
Film by Maharshi Kashyap, Susmita Talukdar, Zeba Zoariah Ahsan, Biswajit Das, Dhruba Hazarika & Koushik Tamilmaran Mentor: Sanjiv Shah
Jury Citation:
“শিলসাঁকোৰ উদং বুকু (Remember Silsako) is a commendable tale of the Silsaku Beel, a wetland in Guwahati, threatened by the growing needs of the city. The disturbing decline in the state of the wetland, its impact on the communities dependent on it and the attitudes of urban dwellers in its vicinity comes together through striking visuals and beautifully paired soundtrack.
Driven by a fictional narrative, the film shows the various stakeholders that are intertwined with the wetland, from the flora and fauna, illegal residents along its edges, the Government and the people who seek to exploit it. Through its ironic narrative style, the film depicts the contradictions and complexities of the relationship between ecologies and the development of new settlements as the city expands.”
Film by Suraj Katra, Jai Mati, Prachi Adesara & Sitaram Shelar Mentor: Avijit Mukul Kishore
Jury Citation:
“Pipe Dream is commended for its compelling story of the impossible task of obtaining a legal water connection in the settlement of Siddharth Nagar in Mumbai. It presents an ‘other’ Mumbai, and the communities that get pushed to the precarious margins of the city by municipal authority, apathy and sheer neglect.
Jai Mati’s role as a community mobilizer with immense patience helps narrate the journey of bureaucratic delays and the reams of documents required to get access to water in this urban settlement. Following Jai Mati through the day, we see him collecting paperwork to be submitted, following up with government officials and then setting up inspection meetings with the officials and the people of Siddharth Nagar. The film reaches a hopeful conclusion, when we learn that Siddharth Nagar will finally be given a legal water connection after 30 years. Pipe Dream is a story of hope and patience, tied together with powerful imagery and a compelling protagonist.”
Film by Akanksha Gupta & Gopal MS Mentor: Avijit Mukul Kishore
Jury Citation:
“The Chaviwallahs of Mumbai is acknowledged for presenting the disparity in water distribution in a city. The Chaviwallah is used as a metaphor for the various factors that decide whether an individual or community will be given or denied their right to a water connection. Steering through topics like distress migration and political pressures determining access to water connections, the film uses a striking theme to address injustice, showing the disparities in access to water that the city perpetuates through its structures of governance and water management.”
Film by Niki Nirvikalpa, Sugantha Priscilla & Prasanth Kumar K Mentor: Bina Paul
Jury Citation:
“The Many Journeys of Water is acknowledged for amplifying the voices of women entrepreneurs involved in the sanitation and water treatment industry in Trichy. The film presents itself as a reportage into the lives of two desludging operators and how they negotiate navigate their roles in the city, negotiating social, political and economic relations of power.”
Film by Priyadharshan Anand, Nagendran Arumugam, Arunmani Vasu, Dishon C Prince Mentor: Arjun Gourisaria
The film explores the tale of the Kosasthalai river –narrated by Kumaresan, a native fisherman, voicing for the land, the people, its flora and fauna. Kosasthalaiyar is Chennai’s largest river, sprawling over 7000 acres. The intervention of Government & private industrial ambitions on its ecological corridor has created an environmental crime scene depleting the existing natural fabric. Adani’s proposed port expansion will completely be destroying the remains of every river based and coastal ecosystem that’s left.
Film by Sanchay Bose, Pramathyu Shukla, Shubham Sengupta and Rudraksh Pathak Mentor Arjun Gourisaria
Jury Citation:
‘Taal Betal’ is laudable as it uses the strength of film’s visual storytelling to reveal the devastating impact of urban development on water bodies and the lives that depend on them. Through an investigation of Jabalpur’s lakes, we experience the impact of pollution on the livelihood of the Singharia community, originally water chestnut farmers, who have now turned to fishing — which is also then affected by the lack of oxygen in the water.
It is a very well-structured and legible film, a documentary that recalls the fact that Jabalpur’s lakes were made for its citizens, a progressive urban planning move. The film calls out to viewers to take more care of our waterways and the layers of life that depend on them – including our own.
Film by Avadhoot Potdar, Akanksha Gupta and Akshata Dalvi Mentor: Arjun Gourisaria
Jury Citation:
‘The Golden Fish’ is commendable as a testament to livelihood as ‘disruption’ in an urbanscape. It illustrates, quite beautifully, how Goa – with its unique geography and society – has been negatively impacted by the floating casinos and their influence. The insights into the life of the young North-Eastern women who work in the casinos are sensitive and evoke questions of “localness” in a cosmopolitan state like Goa.
The use of opulent visuals of the casinos and their branding, as contrasted with disembodied voices for locals, is representative of the way that the industry has now taken up space that once belonged to the city. The women who work on the casino boats are objectified, the locals are ignored, and a kleptocratic system perpetuates exploitation and alienation. The boats themselves are operated by people that are from a different part of the nation, servicing alien crowds that come in from other states and countries, a disconnect between the two worlds. The film also illustrates issues that can be reversed, through advocacy and policy, exemplifying film’s ability to raise public awareness.
Film by Atish Indrekar and Ruchika Chhara Mentor: Sanjiv Shah
Jury Citation:
‘Darudi’ is commendable as it does the hard work of giving voice to a community stigmatised as a criminal tribe by the colonial administration, a burden they carry until today, and of opposing views around the hidden world of distilling alcohol in Chharanagar, in the city of Ahmedabad. It is an uncomfortable story, in the best tradition of documentary filmmaking, that forces viewers to confront historic injustice, an inheritance from colonial times that still continues to circumscribe and constrain. The narrative, largely through song, is intricately crafted and inter-woven with interviews to convey a sense of anguish and disempowerment.
‘Darudi’ provides an intimate experience of how people born into and living in this state of injustice must grapple with the quandary of doing ‘right or wrong’ while pursuing the right to a livelihood that takes care of one’s family and children.
Film by Aakash Chhabra, Snigdha Sharma, Vedant, Om Prakash and Koushik Tamilmaran Mentor: Rajula Shah
Jury Citation:
‘An Ordinary Day’ is acknowledged for presenting a deeply personal and moving take on the livelihood crisis brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. The melancholic tone and the stark aesthetic of the yarn recycling facility were incredibly effective. While there was a single voice and a single story, the film spoke for so many more people, across cities in India who faced this crashing devastation in livelihood, migration and economic chaos.
Film by Aman Jajoria and Simran Raswant Mentor: Bina Paul
Partnership Below Par is a documentary that explores the story of four delivery “partners” as they navigate through the millennium city of Gurugram (previously known as Gurgaon), questioning how the city facilitates their ability to earn a living along with their stakes in this “partnership” within the gig economy.
By Bhawna Jaimini and Moin Khan Mentor: Sanjiv Shah
Shot through the lens of Moin Khan – a young rapper and an aspiring filmmaker, the film explores the challenges, struggles and triumphs of him and his neighbours in Govandi, Mumbai. It looks at how the Muslim youth are negotiating within their homes, where cultural norms and financial limitations dictate their aspirations, as well as outside in the city – where spatial boundaries dictate not just their present but their socio-economic future. It attempts to bring out how opportunity and aspiration intersects with cultural and spatial identity of people of Govandi, dictating their present and future.
“An equally important facet of the right to life is the right to livelihood because no person can live without the means of livelihood.” — Excerpt from the unanimous judgement of The Supreme Court of India in Olga Tellis v. Bombay Municipal Corporation, 1985.
This year, Nagari will address the subject of people and livelihoods in Indian cities. It will attempt to not only use film as a medium to narrate the issues, but really to expand an understanding of the subject and extend its representation and relevance in India.
“An equally important facet of the right to life is the right to livelihood because no person can live without the means of livelihood.” — Excerpt from the unanimous judgement of The Supreme Court of India in Olga Tellis v. Bombay Municipal Corporation.
Nagari 2021 addresses the subject of people and livelihoods in Indian cities in an attempt not only to use film as a medium to narrate the issues, but really to expand an understanding of the subject and extend its representation and relevance.
Film as a medium has played an important role in generating awareness on social issues. This blog lists films that draw parallels to this years’ subject of scrutiny. The list of course is not exhaustive, but is a collection of films – suggestions made by the mentors of Nagari Short Film Competition 2021 and the Charles Correa Foundation.
In 2021, keeping in mind restrictions due to COVID-19, participants may also work with found material and footage so long as IP and copyright laws are respected.
