Film fest to explore relationship with water

The two-day event at Goethe-Institut Auditorium will screen over 30 international and award-winning films, talks by renowned experts and enthusiasts, turtle walk and a storytelling session for kids, to showcase the grandeur of rivers and oceans and highlight the issues plaguing them. In addition to films by Peter McBride, Ben Knight and Will Stauffer-Norris, works of renowned Indian filmmakers such as SU Saravanakumar and Rita Banerjee among others, will also be part of the festival. 

Speakers including marine conservationist Aaron Savio Lobo and Venugopal, member, International Collective in Support of Fishworkers, will take the participants through the various ways in which we are connected and dependent on water, be it for drinking, oil exploration, electricity generation, recreation or fishing.

“The idea is to make people aware of what is happening to our water bodies and to encourage them to fall in love with them and treat them with reverence. We thought cinema is a great tool because a single film can give you the knowledge of four books. In the backdrop of water-related conflict between states, this film festival should resonate quite widely with the people of Chennai and connect the urban populace to the ways in which our water usage and aquatic knowledge impacts not only ecosystems but our own lives,” says Abhi Mandela one of key members behind the festival. 

Interestingly, the team behind the festival is a bunch of volunteers from varied backgrounds but connected by their concern for nature. Abhi and others including marine biologist Divya Karnad and wildlife photographer Tarun Nair, who often met to discuss water, realised the importance of holding an event to spread awareness on its conversation. Thus, was born Moving Water Film Festival in mid-2016. “We organised the first event in Bengaluru in September last year at Goethe Institut and the response was very good. And Goethe Institut from Chennai got in touch with us and wanted to host the festival here as part of their excellency project Embrace Our Rivers. For now, we choose films using various sources including film festivals and social media. Some of our resource persons’ works are also part of the fest. In future editions, we want to give a platform to local filmmakers,” says Abhi. The festival is free and open to all.