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The Elemental You Film Festival
Organised by Kriti Film Club in collaboration with KNMA
21st December, 2024 (10:30 am to 8:30 pm)
Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, Saket, New Delhi
10:30 am: Registration
10:30 am: Registration
11:00 am: Feature 1
ALL THAT BREATHES
(90 mins/ Hindi with Eng. subtitles| 2022/ Docu)
Dir. Shaunak Sen
This film follows two brothers who run a bird hospital dedicated to rescuing injured black kites, a staple in the skies of New Delhi, India. In one of the world’s most populated cities, where cows, rats, monkeys, frogs, and hogs jostle cheek-by-jowl with people, the “Kite Brothers” care for thousands of these mesmerizing creatures that drop daily from New Delhi’s smog-choked skies. Watch Trailer
Followed by a discussion with Nadeem, Saud and Salik. Moderated by Aanchal Kapur
1:30 – 2.30 pm: Lunch Break
2.30 pm - 4.30 pm: Shorts
MAU: THE SPIRIT DREAMS OF CHERAW
(8 mins/ Mizo with English subtitles/ 2023/ Docu)
Dir. Shilpika Bordoloi
This is a performance documentary film from Mizoram, through Cheraw (Bamboo dance) and ritual folklore, revealing the forgotten memory of the story of the mother who dies at childbirth. The film shows a re-imagined dance of the mother spirit. Bamboo Dance was performed as a way to pacify the soul of the mother who died in childbirth. Bamboo is part of the geo-political history of Mizoram and the many other states in the North-east of India. Hence the loss of this intergenerational maternal memory is the crisis of culture, the climate of a place. Watch Trailer
SPIRIT OF THE FOREST
(7 mins/ Kannada with English subtitles/ 2022/ Animation)
Dir. Nandini Rao, Nirupa Rao, Kalp Sanghvi
A little girl stumbles into a sacred grove near her village in south India. She disturbs the spirit of the forest, who takes her on an adventure to illuminate the origins of this ancient swamp: from Gondwanaland, through the times of her ancestors, up to the present day. This film attempts to make plants more than just background scenery, with all flora and fauna accurate to the habitat. It is inspired by local practices of protecting relict forests through folklore grounded in scientific principles. Watch Trailer
(90 mins/ Hindi with Eng. subtitles| 2022/ Docu)
Dir. Shaunak Sen
This film follows two brothers who run a bird hospital dedicated to rescuing injured black kites, a staple in the skies of New Delhi, India. In one of the world’s most populated cities, where cows, rats, monkeys, frogs, and hogs jostle cheek-by-jowl with people, the “Kite Brothers” care for thousands of these mesmerizing creatures that drop daily from New Delhi’s smog-choked skies. Watch Trailer
Followed by a discussion with Nadeem, Saud and Salik. Moderated by Aanchal Kapur
1:30 – 2.30 pm: Lunch Break
2.30 pm - 4.30 pm: Shorts
MAU: THE SPIRIT DREAMS OF CHERAW
(8 mins/ Mizo with English subtitles/ 2023/ Docu)
Dir. Shilpika Bordoloi
This is a performance documentary film from Mizoram, through Cheraw (Bamboo dance) and ritual folklore, revealing the forgotten memory of the story of the mother who dies at childbirth. The film shows a re-imagined dance of the mother spirit. Bamboo Dance was performed as a way to pacify the soul of the mother who died in childbirth. Bamboo is part of the geo-political history of Mizoram and the many other states in the North-east of India. Hence the loss of this intergenerational maternal memory is the crisis of culture, the climate of a place. Watch Trailer
SPIRIT OF THE FOREST
(7 mins/ Kannada with English subtitles/ 2022/ Animation)
Dir. Nandini Rao, Nirupa Rao, Kalp Sanghvi
A little girl stumbles into a sacred grove near her village in south India. She disturbs the spirit of the forest, who takes her on an adventure to illuminate the origins of this ancient swamp: from Gondwanaland, through the times of her ancestors, up to the present day. This film attempts to make plants more than just background scenery, with all flora and fauna accurate to the habitat. It is inspired by local practices of protecting relict forests through folklore grounded in scientific principles. Watch Trailer
THE MUSHROOM KEEPERS
(15:40 mins/ English, Khasi, & Garo with English Subtitles/ 2024/ Docu)
Dir. Naveed Mulki
This film explores the deep connections between fungi and the Khasi and Garo communities of Meghalaya, India. It delves into how fungi shape spiritual and cultural worldviews, revealing the intertwined loss of biodiversity and ancestral knowledge as old-growth forests diminish. Through intimate conversations with community elders, the film serves as both a reflection on cultural erosion and a call to action. It embodies the Fungi Foundation's mission to foster research, education, and conservation of fungi while preserving the cosmovisions nurtured by fungal wisdom. Watch Trailer
MURMURS OF THE JUNGLE (NATIONAL AWARD WINNER)
(20 mins/ Marathi with Eng subtitles/ 2022/ Short Fiction)
Dir. Sohil Vaidya
A grandmother tells a story to her grandson about the origins of their remote indigenous village in the Western Ghats of Maharashtra. As the mysterious morning slowly unfolds, spirits wander in the forest, and dark secrets buried in time slowly emerge. The trees whisper tales of the Gods and the ancestors. They say that you don't die. Your spirit assimilates into the jungle. And while civilization, its beliefs, and the cycle of life, death, and rebirth continue, the forest stands eternal. A bridge between the old and the new. Watch Trailer
A GLOW WORM IN A JUNGLE
(12 mins | Hindi with Eng subtitles | 2018/ Docu)
Dir. Ramana Dumpala
This film is about Hema Sane, a retired Botany professor, who has never used electricity ever in her life. Surrounded by nature, amidst a concrete jungle, she shares her philosophy of life with humour and wisdom.
THE GRASSHOPPERS SLEEP HERE
(8 mins / Malayalam with Eng. subtitles/ Fiction)
Dir. Balaram J
A man comes with a mower to clear a grass field. He is interrupted by a girl who was sleeping on the grass. Watch Trailer
Followed by a discussion with the filmmakers and guest speaker, Vijay Dhasmana
4:30 – 5.00 pm: Tea break
5:00 – 7:30 pm: Feature 2
MY NAME IS SALT
(92 mins | Gujarati with English subtitles | 2013 | Observational Docu)
Dir. Farida Pacha
Year after year, just after the monsoon season has finished, thousands of families travel to a bleak desert in Gujarat, India, where they will stay for an endless eight months and extract salt from the earth, using the same painstaking, manual techniques as generations before them. Director Farida Pacha and cinematographer Lutz Konermann spent a season with one of these families, observing the very particular rhythms of their lives and crafting an exquisite, lyrical film in the process. Watch Trailer
Followed by a discussion with the Filmmaker, Farida Pacha and guest speaker, Madhulika Liddle
(15:40 mins/ English, Khasi, & Garo with English Subtitles/ 2024/ Docu)
Dir. Naveed Mulki
This film explores the deep connections between fungi and the Khasi and Garo communities of Meghalaya, India. It delves into how fungi shape spiritual and cultural worldviews, revealing the intertwined loss of biodiversity and ancestral knowledge as old-growth forests diminish. Through intimate conversations with community elders, the film serves as both a reflection on cultural erosion and a call to action. It embodies the Fungi Foundation's mission to foster research, education, and conservation of fungi while preserving the cosmovisions nurtured by fungal wisdom. Watch Trailer
MURMURS OF THE JUNGLE (NATIONAL AWARD WINNER)
(20 mins/ Marathi with Eng subtitles/ 2022/ Short Fiction)
Dir. Sohil Vaidya
A grandmother tells a story to her grandson about the origins of their remote indigenous village in the Western Ghats of Maharashtra. As the mysterious morning slowly unfolds, spirits wander in the forest, and dark secrets buried in time slowly emerge. The trees whisper tales of the Gods and the ancestors. They say that you don't die. Your spirit assimilates into the jungle. And while civilization, its beliefs, and the cycle of life, death, and rebirth continue, the forest stands eternal. A bridge between the old and the new. Watch Trailer
A GLOW WORM IN A JUNGLE
(12 mins | Hindi with Eng subtitles | 2018/ Docu)
Dir. Ramana Dumpala
This film is about Hema Sane, a retired Botany professor, who has never used electricity ever in her life. Surrounded by nature, amidst a concrete jungle, she shares her philosophy of life with humour and wisdom.
THE GRASSHOPPERS SLEEP HERE
(8 mins / Malayalam with Eng. subtitles/ Fiction)
Dir. Balaram J
A man comes with a mower to clear a grass field. He is interrupted by a girl who was sleeping on the grass. Watch Trailer
Followed by a discussion with the filmmakers and guest speaker, Vijay Dhasmana
4:30 – 5.00 pm: Tea break
5:00 – 7:30 pm: Feature 2
MY NAME IS SALT
(92 mins | Gujarati with English subtitles | 2013 | Observational Docu)
Dir. Farida Pacha
Year after year, just after the monsoon season has finished, thousands of families travel to a bleak desert in Gujarat, India, where they will stay for an endless eight months and extract salt from the earth, using the same painstaking, manual techniques as generations before them. Director Farida Pacha and cinematographer Lutz Konermann spent a season with one of these families, observing the very particular rhythms of their lives and crafting an exquisite, lyrical film in the process. Watch Trailer
Followed by a discussion with the Filmmaker, Farida Pacha and guest speaker, Madhulika Liddle
Festival Curator: Aanchal Kapur, Founder, Kriti Film Club. Read Curators note here
Programming and Coordination support: Shivani Monga
OPEN FOR ALL
- You can register here or email us on space.kriti@gmail.com
- Please only book a seat for the slot of films you wish to come for, so that we can accommodate interested audience.
- The venue is wheelchair accessible.
- Nearest Metro: Saket
Queries: space.kriti@gmail.com | +91-9810666692
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