NINGAL ARANAYE KANDO? | HAVE YOU SEEN THE ARANA? - BITCHITRA COLLECTIVE
Film poster for "NINGAL ARANAYE KANDO? | HAVE YOU SEEN THE ARANA?" with map over image of forest.
NINGAL ARANAYE KANDO? | HAVE YOU SEEN THE ARANA? - BITCHITRA COLLECTIVE
Film poster for "NINGAL ARANAYE KANDO? | HAVE YOU SEEN THE ARANA?" with map over image of forest.
Exploring the indigenous connections between humanity and ecosystems, as they resist onslaught of indiscriminate and non-sustainable development

NINGAL ARANAYE KANDO? | HAVE YOU SEEN THE ARANA? - BITCHITRA COLLECTIVE

Regular price $129.00
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"MONDE EN REGARDS" AWARD - Jean Rouch International Film Festival | GOLDEN CONCH FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY, NATIONAL COMPETITION - Mumbai International Film Festival

Ecology • Environment • Sustainability • Climate • Indigenous Knowledge • Medicinal Plants • Development • Indigenous Myths


Date of Completion: 2012 | Run Time: 59 minutes | Language: Malayalam with English subtitles | Captions: Yes | Includes: Transcript | Director & Writer: Sunanda Bhat | Producer: Songline Productions | Cinematography: Saumyananda Sahi | Edit Consultant: Bina Paul | Gaffer & Editor: Tanushree Das | Location Sound: Christopher Burchell

In a world that has grown more dynamic and uncertain, where diversity and differences make way for standardization and uniformity, the film NINGAL ARANAYE KANDO? | HAVE YOU SEEN THE ARANA? explores the effects of a rapidly changing landscape on people’s lives and livelihoods. Set in Wayanad, part of the fragile ecosystem of the western mountain range in South India, the film takes you on a journey through a region that is witnessing drastic transformation in the name of ‘development’.

A woman’s concern over the disappearance of medicinal plants from the forest, a farmer’s commitment to growing traditional varieties of rice organically and a cash crop cultivator’s struggle to survive amidst farmers’ suicides, offer fresh insights into shifting relations between people, knowledge systems and environment.

Interwoven into contemporary narratives is an ancient tribal creation myth that traces the passage of their ancestors across this land, recalling past ways of reading and mapping the terrain. As hills flatten, forests disappear and traditional knowledge systems are forgotten, the film reminds us that this diversity could disappear forever, to be replaced by monotonous and unsustainable alternatives.

AWARDS
Golden Conch for Best Documentary, National Competition | Mumbai International Film Festival
"Monde en Regards" Award | Jean Rouch International Film Festival
Best Documentary Mark Haslam Award | Planet in Focus Film Festival
John Abraham National Award for Best Documentary | Signs Film Festival
Special Mention | International Documentary & Short Film Festival of Kerala
Best Ecodocumentary Feature Award | Tinai Eco Film Festival
Special Mention, Anthropology & Sustainable Development Prize | Jean Rouch International Film Festival