Viewers are requested to send in names and a brief review of films that they would like to recommend to others. Contributors whose entries are featured in this page will receive a token gift from the India Water Portal.
Classification:
Documentaries
Fun films for children
Primary school
Secondary school
High School
www.cmsindia.org/cmsenviscentre/resources/10.pdf
Documentaries – some award winning documentaries available in India
Waterworks India: Four Engineers and a Manager
English / 22mins / 1998
Format: Mini DV
Subject Focus: Traditional rainwater harvesting and management
Synopsis: The documentary talks about five unsung people who have kept the intricate traditional science of water management alive. Four of them, Chewang Norphel (maker of the zing), Magga Ram Suthar (beri), Ran Singh (kundi) and Kunhikannan Nair (surangam) are engineers; Neerkati Ganesan, the fifth, is a water manager. The documentary introduces the viewers to the technique as well as the social management practices governing them.
Awards Received by the Film: Second Best Documentary Award, ‘Water for Life’category CMS
VATAVARAN 2003
Producer: Pradip Saha
Contact Details:
Centre for Science and Environment (CSE)
41, Tughlakabad Institutional Area, New Delhi 110 062
P: 011-29955124, 29956110, 29956394; F: 011-29955879
E: cse@cseindia.org
W: www.cseindia.org
Arvari
English / 14 mins / 2000
Format: VHS/VCD & DVD
Subject Focus: Rebirth of the Arvari river
Synopsis: This is a story of a small river, the Arvari, which originates in Thanegazi block of Alwar district in Rajasthan. The river, which had remained dried-up for years, has come back to life through the concerted efforts of villagers assisted by Tarun Bharat Sangh (TBS), a local voluntary group.
Producer: Centre for Science and Environment (CSE)
Contact Details:
Centre for Science and Environment (CSE)
41, Tughlakabad Institutional Area, New Delhi 110 062
P: 011-29955124, 29956110, 29956394; F: 011-29955879
E: cse@cseindia.org
W: www.cseindia.org
Harvest of Rain
English / 48 mins / 1995
Format: VHS/VCD & DVD
Subject Focus: Traditional water harvesting systems
Synopsis: This video is dedicated to India’s traditional water harvesting systems. The camera wanders through Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu, recording the profound science of the people.
Director: Sanjay Kak
Producer: Centre for Science and Environment (CSE)
Contact Details:
Centre for Science and Environment (CSE)
41, Tughlakabad Institutional Area, New Delhi 110 062
P: 011-29955124, 29956110, 29956394; F: 011-29955879
E: cse@cseindia.org
W: www.cseindia.org
The Rain Catchers — A practical guide to solve your water problems
English / 38 mins / 2005
Format: VHS/VCD & DVD
Subject Focus: Urban rainwater harvesting
Synopsis: Catch rain where it falls: this is the unambiguous message that The Rain Catchers, a training
and information video on urban rainwater harvesting, carries. The video is an easy-to-use resource guide. It answers all the key questions — such as what is urban rainwater harvesting and how it is done — and goes further to look at policy dimensions, products and technologies and maintenance issues across a range of geoclimatic zones in India. The film takes the viewer to different cities documenting a wide range of urban water harvesting case studies from industry, academic institutions, residential buildings, clubs, colonies, slum dwellings, urban water bodies and sports facilities.
Director: Pradip Saha
Producer: Centre for Science and Environment (CSE)
Contact Details:
Centre for Science and Environment (CSE)
41, Tughlakabad Institutional Area, New Delhi 110 062
P: 011-29955124, 29956110, 29956394; F: 011-29955879
E: cse@cseindia.org
W: www.cseindia.org
Thar — Secrets of the Desert
English / 52 mins / 1995
Format: VHS/VCD & DVD
Subject Focus: Traditional water management in the Thar desert
Synopsis: This film captures the diverse social and cultural practices of the Marwaris, which enabled large
populations to survive in the harsh desert environment of the Thar. The villages of Thar have amazing systems of water harvesting such as the kund or kundis; tankas; kuis and bawdis. Similarly, the desert farmer has devised an ingenious system to grow and maintain three excellent sources of fodder — the sewan, jharberi and khejari. Today, it is the villages that have not yet been ‘modernised’ which have water and fodder even during periods of drought, while the so-called ‘developed’ villages wait for water tankers and fodder trucks.
Director: Sanjiv Shah
Producer: ABNI
Contact Details:
Centre for Science and Environment (CSE)
41, Tughlakabad Institutional Area, New Delhi 110 062
P: 011-29955124, 29956110, 29956394; F: 011-29955879
E: cse@cseindia.org
W: www.cseindia.org
Blue Planet: A Natural History of the Oceans
English / 2001
Format: DVD
Director: David Attenborough
Producers: Martha Holmes and Andy Byatt
Contact Details:
British Council Library
17, Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi 110 001
Email Id: delhi.enquiry@in.britishcouncil.org
Contact Number: 1-800-102-4353
Do Your Bit
English / 30 secs / 2004
Format: DV
Subject Focus: Individual efforts to conserve water
Synopsis: The film aims to inspire people to do their bit to conserve water. In the film, while a man lets the washbasin tap run in his bathroom, his seven-year-old son watches a documentary on TV which shows slum children pumping a hand-pump in vain. The child closes the tap, and to his surprise, finds water now flowing from the village hand-pump in the documentary. The happiness on the children’s faces in the documentary brings a smile to his face as well.
Awards Received by the Film: Best Public Service Message Spot Award — CMS VATAVARAN 2005
Director: Anand Thakur
Producer: Ogilvy & Mather Advertising Ltd
Production Company: Earth Communications Office India Association (Eco India)
Contact Details:
Eco India
C-2, Panchseel Enclave, New Delhi
F: 011-41748395
E: ecoindia@gmail.com
W:www.eco-india.org/index1.htm
Marubhumi
Hindi / 52 mins / 1997
Subject Focus: Water and its management in Rajasthan
Synopsis: The story is based on the narratives of two old men, both residents of Jodhpur city — Liaquat Ali Khan who was the Municipality Chairman of Jodhpur in 1964 and Y. D. Singh who was the famine inspector in 1964 and retired as the superintendent of Jodhpur Zoo. The film was inspired by the research initiated by the members of the Jodhpur Chapter of INTACH.
Awards Received by the Film: Pinnacle Award for Best Direction, 1997; part of the Travelling Film South Asia, 2000
Director: Amar Kanwar
Contact Details:
Mr. Amar Kanwar
A. K. Productions, N 14A, Saket, New Delhi 110 017
P: 011-26516088; M: 9810216088; F: 011-26513556
E: amarvg@vsnl.com
Neemi – Paani se doodh ki kahani
Hindi / 24 mins/ 2002
Format: Betacam
Subject Focus: The check dams of Neemi village, Rajasthan
Synopsis: This film recounts the story of a village where a people’s movement changed the barren land’s destiny. Today, the people of this village are self-reliant. Neemi has been selected as a model village by UNDP, to be replicated by poor and developing countries that are in dire need of cost-effective methods for growth and sustainability. And all this was achieved by Magsaysay Award winner Rajender Singh’s efforts to revive Neemi’s traditional methods of water harvesting — its check dams.
Producers: Vinay Rai & Meenakshi Rai
Contact Details:
Vinay Rai & Meenakshi Rai
Directors, Leoarts Communication, A-103, LGF, Amar Colony
Lajpat Nagar-IV, New Delhi 110 024
P: 011-26488898; F: 011-26216536
E: leoarts@bol.net.in
Rainwater Harvesting — Public Service Advertisement
English, Hindi and Tamil / 1 min 30 sec / 2003
Format: 35 mm films
Subject Focus: Rainwater harvesting
Synopsis: This film is to promote rainwater harvesting as a lesson from the past, which provides us a solution for the future. The spot revolves around the concept of catching rain in a neighbourhood, creating a cascading effect. People begin to collect water in anything they can lay their hands on. The film evokes the idea that rainwater harvesting is a community effort and it is about building a sharing and caring society.
Awards Received by the Film: Best Public Service Message Award, CMS VATAVARAN 2003
Producer: Saumya Sen & Nandita Das, Leapfrog
Commissioning Agency: Centre for Science and Environment (CSE)
Contact Details:
Saumya Sen & Nandita Das, Leapfrog
Producers & Directors, A-14, Gulmohar Park
New Delhi 110 049
P: 011-26515387, 30954939, M: 9811154329
F: 011-26515387
E: leapfrog.india@lycos.com, nandita.das@vsnl.com
River Taming Mantras
Hindi and English (with English subtitles) / 30 mins / 2004
Format: DV CAM
Subject Focus: Flood control in eastern India
Synopsis: Large parts of eastern India are subject to annual flooding. Over the last 50 years, the government has built 14,000 kilometers of embankments in an attempt to tame the rivers of eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam and Orissa. Despite this massive expenditure, losses due to flooding and the area that is now vulnerable to flooding has increased; 16 per cent of Bihar, for instance, is now permanently waterlogged, a direct consequence of the construction of embankments. River Taming Mantras explores the technological, economic and political rationale that underlies the adoption of such flood control measures. The film argues that because these rivers carry an enormous silt load, they have enormous power. Attempts to control these rivers, therefore, are unlikely to succeed. On the other hand, the vast sums spent on the building and maintenance of these embankments provides endless opportunities for the siphoning of funds. Ultimately, it is the poor who suffer.
Awards Received by the Film: Best Documentary Film Award in Environment Category, CMS VATAVARAN 2005
Directors: Sanjay Barnela and Vasant Saberwal
Producer: Moving Images
Production Company: Moving Images
Contact Details:
Moving Images
D-3, 3425, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi 110 070
P: 011-26893384, 26124317, 26524940; M: 09818299212
E: moving@vsnl.com
W:www.movingimagesindia.com
Spandan (The Resonance)
Hindi (with English subtitles) / 75 min / 2002
Format: Betacam
Subject Focus: Water pollution
Synopsis: The subject focus of this short film is don’t pollute water.
Awards Received by the Film: ‘Jury Special Mention’— CMS VATAVARAN 2003
Producers: Vinay Rai & Meenakshi Rai
Contact Details:
Vinay Rai & Meenakshi Rai
Directors, Leoarts Communication, A-103, LGF, Amar Colony
Lajpat Nagar-IV, New Delhi 110 024
P: 011-26488898; F: 011-26216536
E: leoarts@bol.net.in
Troubled Waters
English / 16 mins / 2003
Format: Digital
Subject Focus: The coral reefs of Lakshadweep
Synopsis: The film explains how this ecosystem came into being, and traces the growth and diversity of the reefs and the factors that contribute to their health and wellbeing. It also shows how close this ancient ecosystem came to being totally destroyed in 1998 and the reasons for this devastation. The film ends with the current state of the reef, how it is regenerating, its importance to the world and the paramount need to protect it. The main thrust of the film is to show how all nature is inter-connected and inter-dependent. Man is a vital part of the natural world, and any destruction of the environment or a living species will have serious consequences for all of us.
Awards Received by the Film: ‘Best of Festival Award’ CMS VATAVARAN 2003
Producer: Mitali Dutt Kakar
Contact Details:
Mitali Dutt Kakar
Director, Reef Watch Marine Conservation, Priyanka Bldg.
50 St. Pauls Road, Bandra (W), Mumbai 400 050
P: 022-26518223; M: 09820085039 F: 011-26518209
E: reefwatch@usa.net, reefwatchindia@reefwatchindia.org
Unquiet Flows the Chaliyar
English / 37 mins / 1999
Format: Betacam
Subject Focus: The struggle of a village to protect the second largest river in Kerala
Synopsis: The film is an attempt to chronicle the longest drawn out environmental struggle in India. It documentsthe death and destruction of the river Chaliyar due to industrial pollution. This story of a dying river is also a requiem to the men and women living and dying along the once idyllic banks of the Chaliyar.
Awards Received by the Film: Best Documentary Film Award—‘Water for Life’ category CMS VATAVARAN 2003
Director: Sridevi Mohan
Producer: Sanjay Mohan
Contact Details:
Sanjay Mohan
Abhaya, 82, Bodheswaran Road, Behind Police Camp,
Nandavanam, Trivandrum 695 033, Kerala
P: 0471-2321940; M: 09846032194
E: srimohan@vsnl.com
Words on Water
English / 85 mins / 2002
Format: Digital-Mini DV
Subject Focus: Rivers as a natural resource, and people’s rights over their resources
Synopsis: For more than 15 years, people of the Narmada valley have resisted a series of massive dams on their river, and in their struggle have exposed the deceptive heart of India’s development politics. Words on Water is about the sustained non-violent resistance, that almost joyous defiance, which empowers the people as they struggle for their rights, yet saves them from the ultimate humiliation of violence.
Awards Received by the Film: Best Long Film prize, International Festival of Environmental Film & Video,
Brazil, 2003; prizes at Envirofilm, Slovak Republic; Second Best Documentary Award ‘Water for Life’category CMS VATAVARAN 2003; award at International Video Festival, Trivandrum
Producer: Sanjay Kak
Commissioning Agency: Sanjay Kak
Contact Details:
Sanjay Kak
Producer/Director, Octave Communications Pvt. Ltd.,
C-4/4048, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi 110 070
P: 011-26893893; M: 9820139960; F: 011-26123828
E: octave@vsnl.com
Fun films for children
Free Willy
Finding Nemo