​Have You Seen the Arana?​​
non-fiction | 72 mins | HD| colour | 2012​
​
​Director and Producer: Sunanda Bhat | Cinematography: Saumyananda Sahi
Editing Consultant: Bina Paul | Editor & Gaffer: Tanushree Das |
Location Sound: Christopher Burchell | Sound Design: P M Satheesh
​
​​
​
​In a world that has grown more dynamic and uncertain, where diversity and differences make way for standardization and uniformity, textures of people’s lives emerge through layers of diverse landscape to reveal varying levels of engagement with land.
​
The film is set in Wayanad, a part of the fragile ecosystem of the western mountain range in South India, witnessing rapid transformation, mostly in the name of development.
​
A woman’s concern over the disappearance of medicinal plants from the forest, a farmer’s commitment to growing traditional varieties of rice organically and a ginger cultivator’s struggle to survive amidst farmers’ suicides, offer fresh insights into shifting relations between people, their knowledge systems and the environment.
​
Interwoven into contemporary narratives is an ancient tribal creation myth. Sung for the dead, even in present times, the story recalls the passage of a mythical couple through historical sites, carrying forward and preserving earlier ideas of landscape. The song brings to life images of a terrain that still exists.
​
As hills flatten and forests disappear, as traditional values and knowledge systems are forgotten, the film is a gentle reminder that these varied lifestyles and landscapes that we take for granted, could disappear forever, to be replaced possibly by a sterile and less sustainable alternative.
​
Sunanda Bhat
Recognition:
​
WINNER, Golden Conch for Best Documentary, National Competition, Mumbai International Film Festival, 2014.
Citation: “This film is elegant, patient, meditative, and subtle. The director gently moves her audience towards a deep appreciation of the tribal, mythical connections between humanity and the ecosystems that sustain us all.”
WINNER, Best Cinematography Award for Documentaries, Mumbai International Film Festival, 2014.
Citation: “This cinematographer's work stands out for its reserved discipline, its beauty and attention to detail and its overall contribution to the subtle tone of the film”
WINNER – Best Cinematography and Best Editing Awards, Jeevika Asia Livelihood Film
Citation: "Every frame of this film is an aesthetic delight, lit as if by a studio photographer, rather than a documentary camera. ‘Have You Seen the Arana’ flows from one scenario to another, in a stream of cultural context and consciousness, an enviable fluidity that is a testament to the craft of editing."
WINNER, Best Sound Award, Mumbai International Film Festival, 2014.Citation:
“Rendered with great sensitivity and care, the sounds of the natural world and human voice are integral elements in bringing the director's vision and message to the screen”
WINNER, “Monde en Regards” award by the INALCO jury 32nd Jean Rouch International Film Festival, Paris 2013.
WINNER, Special Mention by the International Jury of the Anthropology and Sustainable Development Prize 32nd Jean Rouch International Film Festival, Paris 2013.
Citation: “A film of great aesthetic quality, that makes us consider the fragility of oral-based knowledge about nature.”
WINNER, Best Documentary Mark Haslam Award at Planet in Focus Film Festival, Toronto, 2013
WINNER, Honorable Mention, Documentary Feature, Int. Film Festival for Environment, Health and Culture, Jakarta.
WINNER, John Abraham National Award for Best Documentary, 2013.Citation: “For its extraordinarily compassionate understanding of the harmony between Nature and Man, and the imminent danger of its destruction. This documentary is remarkable also for its restrained yet humane exposition.”
Special Mention, International Documentary & Short Film Festival of Kerala.Citation: “For its masterful depiction of the struggles and complexities of indigenous communities against the onslaught of indiscriminate and non-sustainable development. This film archives a rare poetic and sophisticated cinematic approach woefully lacking in most issue-driven films.”
WINNER – Best Ecodocumentary Feature Award, Tinai Eco Film Festival, 2014.Citation: A beautiful film, with an excellent narrative arc makes a compelling statement on the wisdom of indigenous communities in the context of India’s widespread agrarian crisis."
Recipient of the AND Post production Fund, Busan International Film Festival, 2012.
​​
​
Watch the Trailer: