Documentary on Dongria Kondh tribe to be seen at Kolkata Film Fest

Bhubaneswar: The courage of Dongria Kandha tribe who fought against mining in the Niyamgiri hills, their abode, has been told and retold in the past. While there are several written documents on it, Surya Shankar Dash has made a documentary film highlighting the persecution and violence, affecting the indigenous people living there.

Titled ‘Niyamgiri – The Mountain of Law’, it is going to be screened at the 24th Kolkata International Film Festival of India 2018 in the Documentary Section. The short documentary film running ten minutes, in Odia and kui language, was first screened at the 1^st International Indigenous Film Festival of Bali, Indonesia, in January, then at the 1^st Kalimantan International Film Festival in September this year.

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 capitalism. Several activists and leaders of the community have undergone persecution, incarceration, third-degree torture, a most violent intrusion into their homes and lives by the state and the company.

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.

Surya believes cinema is as powerful  form of art and therefore the way a song can inspire or a painting can soothe, even films can motivate people at multiple aspects. “I like to use my films as means to engage in a conversation with my audience and that is the reason I make several films on the same subject. At the same time, I am aware of the limitations of the medium or how it can be subverted,” he added.

Here the subject is Niyamgiri, which for him is beyond cinema. “It is a matter of life and death and difficult to contain within the discussions of aesthetics.”