A Green Agony - An Indian Documentary

There's a world out there that you will perhaps never get to know about. Here's an attempt to make sure that at least the first 5 words stay true.

The Documentary Circle of the Hyderabad Film Club, in association with Magic Lantern Foundation, Delhi, and ECOMOVE International, Germany, is organizing a 3-day mini-festival of films on the politics of environment, called Point Of View. The films will be screened at the Prasad's Preview Theatre everyday, from 6:00pm to 9:00pm, between 16th and 18th February.

Environment is a political issue, whether we like it or not. Today's conflicts are more about the control of natural resources than anything else. We see these conflicts in our day-to-day life, whether it is for control of land and water, or a question of who pollutes and who pays, they are all about people's problems, and thus influence the politics of our day. It is happening around us, but we do not realize it. And when there is a realization, there is a lack of perspective. The perspective doesn't happen because, more often than not, environmental film festivals talk about non-controversial issues.

Point Of View is a sincere effort to look beyond the obvious, to give a platform for the alternative voices and untold stories. Most of these films have enjoyed wide viewership and appreciation elsewhere in India and abroad. The films straddle a wide spectrum of subjects, from India becoming a dump yard for the wastes created by European consumerism to the effects of depleted Uranium on American soldiers; from fishermen's woes in Tamil Nadu to a lone woman's fight against a toxic dump in South Africa; from the World Bank's environmental politics to locals' anger against tourism in Goa, from the horror stories of genetic engineering in Canada to the scams behind flood control in Bihar.

Today, the second day, A Green Agony, an Indian documentary by Geeta Singh, about climatic change effect on Sunderbans, will be screened. In an idyllic corner of the Bay Of Bengal, where several rivers meet the ocean, lies a labyrinthine maze of a world that obeys no boundaries; a world that has long defied all descriptions and set its own rules; but one gradually vanishing under the burden of an industrialized world.

A Green Agony explores the unique ecosystem of the Sundarbans, and analyses the impact of global climate change on the inhabitants of the region; man, mangroves and wildlife. The film was a finalist at the Wildscreen Film Festival for the Panda Awards - 2006.

The screenings are free for all. For further details, please contact Bh S S Prakash Reddy of the Hyderabad Film Club at 2373-0841/93910-20243.