Reels from the hills

ALT EFF will be Panchgani's first environmental film festival

Had an invisible virus not played spoilsport, Mumbaikars would have been witness to their favourite hill station Panchgani walking the talk on sustainability with its first environmental film festival this year. However, that hasn't stopped the four founders of the All Living Things Environmental Film Festival (ALT EFF) from putting together its first edition virtually this weekend, drawing entries from South Africa, Germany, Madagascar, UK and USA, among other places.

Stills from Elephants In My Backyard

Co-founders Kunal Khanna, Neha Shreshta, Rudransh Mathur - all based out of Panchgani - and Marie Schega from Germany tell us that the festival has been in the works since November 2019. "While residing in Australia, I realised the power of the arts to convey important messages and change perceptions. When I returned to Panchgani in 2018, Shreshta and Mathur were hosting a festival, and it struck me that we can do an environmental film festival together," shares Khanna who runs a permaculture farm. Design studio owners Shreshta and Mathur, who have their backgrounds in film, and are green enthusiasts, were immediately on-board. "In fact, Mathur's life came full circle as his first film-related award was given by Mike Pandey, a veteran in the environmental filmmaking space, and now, he's part of ALT EFF's advisory board," Shreshta informs us.

Kokoly

The festival has been put together entirely virtually by 18 team members spread out across the world. With ambassadors like Jackie Shroff and Mrunmayee Deshpande, it drew in over 100 film submissions from 22 countries. "It was heartening to see films of such great quality in our first year. It was difficult to shortlist the 33 films that will finally be screened," Khanna says, pointing to the diverse reels including Elephants in my Backyard, set in Hassan, Karnataka; Kokoly, which follows a traditional Vezo fisherwoman from coastal Madagascar; and investigative documentary Peng Yu Sai about the illegal trade in Manta Rays. The fest also includes a host of feature films, shorts and documentaries premiering in India for the first time such as Our Gorongosa, For the Stripes, and Cries of Our Ancestors, among others.

Kunal Khanna, Rudransh Mathur, Neha Shreshta and Marie Schega

On the nine-day itinerary are also masterclasses and panel discussions, such as one on sustainable living, storytelling, filmmaking and human-animal conflict. Amid the protests by locals and environmentalists in Mollem, Goa, there's also a panel on investigative journalism to shed light on how voices against environmental crimes are being choked. "One of the key sessions on sustainable tourism focuses on Panchgani. We feel that when you live amid nature, you perceive things differently. So, locals are also part of the festival, including Mona Patrao, who has been running an organic farm-stay for decades," says Shreshta. Mathur elaborates that although it's a virtual festival this year, they want to focus on making Panchgani a hub for eco-awareness. "Through the festival, we want to transform the kind of tourism that happens here and make it an example of sustainability," he signs off, hoping they can have green enthusiasts head to the physical festival and flea next year.

Watch out for
Aagaswadi - Village In the Sky
Ek Din Banenge No 1
The Love Bugs
Peng Yu Sai
Wade

On: December 5 to 13
Log on to: watch.eventive.org/alteff2020
Cost: Rs 250 onwards for single film screenings

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