Short documentary film on Niyamgiri titled ‘Niyamgiri The Mountain of Law’ by Surya Shankar will be screened at the 24th Kolkata International Film Festival of India 2018 in the Documentary Section.
The short documentary film running ten minutes was first screened at the 1st International Indigenous Film Festival of Bali, Indonesia, January 2018, then at the 1st Kalimantan International Film Festival, September 2018.
The documentary highlights the persecution and violence affecting the Adivasi people living in Niyamgiri hills for their opposition to the Vedanta Aluminium project on their sacred lands.
The rare ecology of Niyamgiri is of paramount importance to the survival of mankind and is protected fiercely by the Dongria Kondh indigenous Adivasi community against the greed of Brahminical capitalism.
The Dongria Kondh face severe persecution for their defiance against the mining company that refuses to leave their sacred land. State excess, torture and rampant human rights violations threaten the very existence of the Adivasi people in Niyamgiri.
The short film uses footage of Niyamgiri from various sources spanning ten years, and follows young members of the community who have grown up to take the mantle of activism but are now in the line of fire. The spirit of activism and resistance against destruction of nature carries on from one generation to the other, as a legacy of ancestral Adivasi wisdom.