A Film Festival cum Discussion in Kohima on Biodiversity, Livelihoods and Climate Change through the lens of women
Phek, August 7 (MExN): The North East Network (NEN) in collaboration with GIZ (German Society for International Cooperation, Ltd.) is organizing one-day Film Festival cum Discussion on August 9 from 10:30 am at APO Hall, Kohima. Keeping in view the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, NEN has chosen ‘Amplifying the voices of Indigenous people through the lens of women – Biodiversity, Livelihoods and Climate Change’ as the theme of the festival.
The Film Festival cum Discussion aims to: Showcase and celebrate the work of a women-led participatory video (PV) project in Nagaland; Initiate conversations with the diverse stakeholders, particularly the urban mass about the rich indigenous resources, knowledge systems and issues thereof, such as climate change and community’s adaptation strategies, so as to build collective awareness and inspire action; Promote stories of resilience practiced by Indigenous people.
The activities of the one-day event will include panel discussion on ‘Visibilising the Unheard – Indigenous Women Farmers in Media’, screening of short films produced by the PV team, interaction with filmmakers from Phek district. The target audience will comprise of diverse stakeholders including youth, educational institutions, CSOs, NGOs, Government and the media.
A concept note from the organizers highlighted the importance of indigenous communities themselves telling their own stories from their own lens. It stressed that in building a sustainable future, indigenous communities have much to offer to the world, with their wisdom, knowledge, way of life, and their relationship with nature. “Despite the technological revolution that has taken place, platforms for such direct sharing and cross-learning are still limited.
Thus, it is the ‘other’ people who often get to tell the stories of indigenous communities to the outside world, but not so much by the community themselves, it added. “…But when opportunities for story telling are provided for indigenous communities, it is often the community men whose perspective and voice gets heard but not the women’s voices and stories.”
NEN, a women’s rights organization in the North East region, has made efforts to address this issue – in making multiple stories heard, as told by the communities’ themselves from their own lens. NEN in 2014 had trained 13 women farmers of Phek district on film making. Post-training, the women farmers-filmmakers have taken a journey through their communities’ rich knowledge systems and way of life, and have documented a series of films about their biodiversity, their relationship with nature, food and culture, and many more. Several of the films capture communities’ responses to climate crisis, their adaptation strategies and solutions to address the same.
These films have been screened in the community to promote dialogue, educate, and to influence. The journey for the women filmmakers has been a transformative one. Through their films, they were able to amplify and visibilise the stories of their communities, and especially that of women, the note read. “The community film screenings have brought community people together, to collectively understand issues, voice their concerns and inspired action. There is a need for many more people to listen to their stories.”
