Akanksha Joshi’s film chronicles the changing world through the lives of age-old communities and the adaptations they are forced into. Shoma Chatterji reviews Earth Witness.
Earth Witness. Reflections on the Times and the Timeless is a documentary film made by Akanksha Joshi. It won the Best Film (Climate Change & Sustainable Technologies) Award and the Best Cinematography Award at the 6th CMS Vatavaran and was screened at Mumbai International Film Festival 2012.
Four people - a father, a teacher, a farmer, a shepherd - find themselves on the frontline of the Earth’s biggest, most complex crisis - climate change. Shikari Biaga is a Biaga adivasi who lives and works in Chhattisgarh. Doongra Rabaari is a semi-nomad who comes to herd his sheep in Gujarat. Seno Tsushah who speaks English is a Chakesang Naga from Nagaland. Sukdev-da is a farmer in the Sunderbans.
Belonging to India’s ancient tribes, living in deep proximity with nature, they use challenges as a part of their art. They battle courageously, making weapons of wisdom and compassion; and the strategy deployed in any respected battlefield - flexibility. Their lives journey through the dark labyrinths of the multidimensional crisis, reflecting stories of our times - of trees, mining, monkeys, logging, rivers, seeds, waterfalls, flowers - and the spirit of the timeless.