Check out our review of the ongoing ALT EFF - All Living Things Environment Film Festival, happening between 22 Nov - 8 Dec 2024.
November 22nd 2024 kicked off the opening night of All Living Things Environmental Film Festival - also known as ALT EFF. ALT EFF is India’s premiere showcase of today’s climate stories, aiming to catalyse climate action in India through the power of cinema. Set in Mumbai’s iconic Liberty Cinema, the opening night promised an evening of kombucha, tacos, red carpet fun, and community around climate. Talk Dharti To Me attended the opening night in Mumbai to see what the buzz was about. The event started at 6 PM, with people flowing into the cinema, perusing the merchandise counter, and taking photos on the red carpet. The balcony floor offered the food and drinks, which included tacos and nachos, flavoured kombuchas and craft beer. The food was affordable, delicious, and fresh, and the drinks were complimentary. The kombucha was served in a glass bottle, beer in a paper cup lined with plastic, and the tacos in a paper tray. There was a significant amount of waste generated by the refreshments, and it is something for the festival organisers to take into consideration for future events.
The crowd poured in and at 7 PM we all settled into the theatre. We attended an inaugural speech by festival programming director Anaka Kaundinya, whose words touched upon the immensity of climate change and our roles to play in the climate action movement. This was followed by the award ceremony, which felicitated several feature films, short films and student films from India and around the world. Finally, we watched a screening of The Giants, directed by Rachael Antony, Laurence Billiet. The Giants is an Australian film about the life of Bob Brown - an activist turned parliamentary representative of Tasmania, belonging to the Australian Greens party. The film won the Best of Festival award.
The film touched upon issues such as deforestation, river and lake conservation, natural resource exploitation, power relations between Australian industry, government, and citizens, and environmental activism. The documentary shed light upon the importance of natural ecosystems, and how Bob Brown fearlessly stood up for the natural heritage of Tasmania across several instances. The film persuaded the audience to expand their moral circle, and go beyond the ‘I’ to one’s community or everyone in their country, and to some extent future generations and non-human animals. It left a lasting impression on viewers to engage in political action for the benefit of themselves and other human beings, as well as for the sake of nature and future generations. The biocentric perspective of the film and the festival encouraged the audience to care about all living beings on Earth, not just humans or animals that can feel pain.
The film and festival critically engaged the audience in what they can do to protect the environment. The Giants told the story of one of the most influential environmental activists of all time, but it did so with a balanced story. We got to see Brown’s initial struggles as an activist to get people involved, to get his voice heard, to deal with discrimination due to his sexuality. His initial campaigns were unsuccessful at protecting the rivers of Tasmania from being dammed. However, his journey was depicted masterfully, from being heckled as a queer troublemaking activist to an icon that organised thousands of people to show up to a demonstration and get jailed for a cause. While the film does show that Brown impacted thousands of people, it does not understate the importance of being a small part of a larger cause.
The film left the audience feeling hopeful about the future, and yet charged up about protecting the environment. Overall, the festival programming was high quality and provided the audience with a unique and enriching experience. The opening night event was also quite inclusive for people of all backgrounds, with the entry fee at only ₹499 inclusive of drinks, and was close to the railway station. While there were no student tickets available, the entire festival programming is available to stream online during the festival dates at a pay-what-you-can model, keeping the films highly accessible financially and logistically. They are also screening their movies across the country in select movie theatres, so catch a screening near you!
The verdict: Tune in to ALT EFF this year at a theatre near you or on your device to watch environmental cinema and arts, and unlock the environmentalist within you.
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