It was a very special occasion for three budding filmmakers from Odisha as their first-ever films were screened at the just-concluded International Travelling Film Festival “Voices from the Waters” in Bangalore. The festival brought 45 films from 15 countries exclusively showcasing various dimensions of water crises and challenges facing the whole globe now.
“Getting entry into such a prestigious film festival, that too with our first-ever films, is just wonderful. I can’t believe it.” said Twinkle Pattnaik, one of the three young filmmakers. Her film Water is life is a musical documentary that talks about water problems through a song created by a villager.
“We received a ten-day crash course from eminent Canadian documentary filmmaker luc Cote and then were provided with exposure to villages and basic equipment. The orientation developed our skills and the exposure opened our eyes to the different facets of rural life, especially the problems they are facing with regard to water scarcity and poor sanitary conditions,” said Rajesh Achary, another filmmaker, two of whose films Bhooth Vani and Save Our Water were screened.
Punya Poonascha Priyadarshi, the third one in the team, said, “I always had an interest in making something creative like this but was in want of the right guidance and direction. This opportunity comes rare, and I think we are lucky to be getting in touch with ONE DROP and Bakul Foundation. I was attracted by the rural life and wanted to spend time with them to document the real life problems,” said he, adding, “I would try to make more such films in future.” Punya came with his documentary Pattangi.
“We feel delighted that the ONE DROP project has been able to provide the right platform for these young first timers,,” said Pragyan Bharati, who represents ONE DROP’s India project. ONE DROP, a Canada-based international nonprofit body working on access to water, has been collaborating with local partners like the Bakul Foundation to promote art-based interventions to raise awareness and improve access to water and sanitation in rural Odisha.
Sujit Mahapatra of the Bakul Foundation, who has been facilitating the filmmakers’ field exposure, finds this as “a very successful exercise in their attempt to sensitise
villagers on water and sanitation issues”.
“Interestingly, in the evening film screenings,
villagers prefer seeing these films to mainstream masala films because they can identify with these stories and
problems,” he adds.